


Love is Blind

by Marzos



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: AU, Blind!Laura, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-04-09 07:50:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 20,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4340063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marzos/pseuds/Marzos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura can't see Carmilla, but she still knows her better than anyone else. </p><p>One day I thought, as a challenge, I'd write a blind!Laura AU. Now I can't stop writing oneshots. </p><p>(I take requests at my tumblr marzo2theletter)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Carmilla, I guarantee you, you’re going to like this girl. She’s exactly your type.” 

“I thought after Ell you said I should be avoiding my type, Lawrence,” you answer, holding your cellphone to your ear as you close your car door. 

“Yeah, well, Laura isn’t a bitch. That’s the difference.” 

“Well, she certainly has less expensive taste if she’s meeting me at a Chik-Fil-A for a first date.” 

“Did you want to spend twenty dollars for a steak when you don’t even know the girl you’re taking out?” 

“…Point taken.” You open the door to the restaurant. “So how do I know which one is her, again?” 

“She’ll be the one with the owl sweater.” 

Oh, God. Wow. At least it wouldn’t be hard to find her. You spot her sitting in a booth. She’s looking right at you. 

You wave. “Alright, Danny, I’ll call you back.” 

“Have fun!” 

Laura doesn’t seem to notice you. Or else she’s ignoring you for some reason? 

You walk up to the booth, and sit right in front of her. Still nothing. 

“Hey, Laura?” 

“…Are you Carmilla?” 

“Yeah. Notice that I’m wearing the scarf?” 

Laura reaches her hand forward, her fingers lightly brushing the red silk scarf you wore around your neck. 

Weird. 

“Yeah, it’s you.” Laura agrees, “Nice to finally meet you, Carmilla.” 

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you. Danny keeps telling me you’re just my type.” 

You sit down across from her. Laura turns her head to look at some spot just above your head. 

“Well, I hope I don’t disappoint.” Laura jokes, “I hope you don’t mind, I already ordered. Danny said you like the chicken salad sandwich.” 

“Thanks.” 

You tilt your head. She seems nice enough, but there’s something about Laura that feels… _off._ She’s not making eye contact with you, for starters. And her eyes…it clicks in your head. They look weirdly cloudy and unfocused. 

She’s  _blind?_

 _“…_ Laura, can you excuse me for a second? I need to use the restroom.” 

She shrugs. “Sure.” 

As soon as you go into the bathroom you call Danny. 

“Yeah?” 

“She’s  _blind,_ Danny?” 

“Did I forget to mention that?” 

“ _Yes,_ you forgot to mention that! Don’t you think that would be pertinent information to give your friend about their date?” 

“Your reaction is exactly why I didn’t tell you.” 

“The reaction that could have been avoided by knowing this?” 

“Carmilla, you would have  _never_ said yes if I told you she was blind. You would have thought it was too much trouble. But you know what? You are way too judgmental, sometimes. Laura is nice, and she happens to be blind.”

“But–” 

“And if you want to ditch a blind girl, that’s on you.” 

 _Wow,_ Danny was hitting below the belt. “Fine.” You hang up abruptly and walk back to the table. 

“Sorry, Laura, I–” 

“You were in there awhile…” 

“Like I said, I’m sorry.” 

There’s a bit of an awkward pause. You clear your throat. 

“So, uh…okay, I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t realize you were…well…blind.” 

Laura tilts her head. “Danny didn’t  _tell_ you?” 

“No.” 

“I can’t believe…listen, as much as it sucks for me, I’ll understand if that’s too much for you. Also, can you yell at Danny for me?” 

You’re surprised by Laura’s understanding. “Hey, even if this isn’t a date, I can stay and have dinner with you. You’re blind, not a leper.” 

Laura frowns for a moment before nodding. “As long as this isn’t a pity thing, sure. I get enough of that, y’know?” 

You can only imagine. “So, hey, can I ask you a question then?” 

“Sure.” 

“How did you know which sweater was your owl sweater? Out of complete curiosity.” 

Laura puts her hand on the owl on her chest. “See how the owl is sort of raised? I can feel the texture and the shape. I’ve learned to distinguish my clothes that way. Plus, I just make sure my clothes are always in the exact same spot in my closet.” 

You nod. “That’s…interesting.” 

“I’ve been blind since I was, like, three, so I’m used to it.” 

The waitress puts your food down on the table. Laura takes a sniff of the food.   
“…This one has mayo, so it must be yours,” Laura says, sliding over your chicken salad sandwich. She takes a bite of her spicy chicken. 

“This is the  _best,”_ Laura says, “So…what should I know about you?” 

“Not much to tell. I’m not that close with my family.” 

Laura puts down her food. “If you don’t mind me asking, why not?” 

“My brother is the family disappointment. My sister got as far away from our mother as she possibly could. As for me,” you take a bite and shrug, “Mother practically locked me in the house to keep her favorite child from abandoning her. I ran off when I was eighteen and stayed with friends until I got a job. We aren’t close.” 

“Not living up to expectations, huh?” Laura suggests, smiling. You stare at her. “…Only child of super overprotective father, here? Plus, I’m  _blind._ You can only imagine how hard it was to get out of that house.” 

“Are you both close?” 

“Sure, I love my dad. In small doses. But if I don’t call him every day he’ll freak out and assume I accidentally fell down a manhole or something. You’d think he’d learn by now that I can take care of myself just fine.” 

“I can already tell, you can. You don’t seem like someone who’s blind.” 

Laura’s brow furrows. “I–I mean–I didn’t–fuck, that sounded so awful.” 

“ _Kind of_  ableist, yeah.” 

“I didn’t mean it that way–I just–I like you. Way more than I thought I would–besides, you know, that thing–” 

Laura starts to laugh. “I’m sorry, it’s just–you are trying really hard to be sincere, but it is clear you have never hung out with a blind person in your life, and it’s really hilarious. Seriously, Carmilla, I’m a  _person._ You don’t need to see a person to have a normal conversation with them.”

You lean back. “You’re right. I swear I am usually a lot more smooth than this. And your patience is astounding.” 

“Well, your voice is cute, so I’m giving you some leeway,” Laura says with a smile. 

You blush. Danny was right about one thing–Laura is definitely your type. 

“You know what? We should go somewhere after this.” 

“What did you have in mind?” 

“Well–the first thing I thought was a move–but that is probably not the best thing.” 

“Oh, no, I actually think that’s a great idea. We should totally see Mad Max.” 

“But how–” 

“Headsets.” 

“Oh.” You take the last few bites of your sandwich, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand, as Laura finished hers. “Ready to go?” 

“Can I buy a cookie, first? The cookies here are  _amazing.”_

 _“_ Sure thing, Cupcake.” 

Laura walks up to the counter. You guess she’s been here so many times it’s easy for her to navigate. She comes back with too cookies. 

“One for me? That’s sweet.” 

“Actually, I bought both of these for me.” 

You raise an eyebrow. “Seriously?” 

Laura smiles sheepishly. “But I can share!” 

You laugh. “Keep your cookie. Let’s go catch the eight o’clock show.” 

* * *

 

 **“** The movie was just so  _amazing,_ though, Carm,” Laura insists, walking next to you on the sidewalk, “How can you just call it ‘okay’?” 

“I don’t know, there were a lot of explosions and it was really fucking weird.” 

“But it was so feminist!” Laura exclaims, “The main character was a woman, she had agency, it passed the bechdel test–” 

“Being a landmark movie is different from being a good movie. Besides, I didn’t say it was  _bad,_ I said it was only a seven.” 

“I don’t understand why you couldn’t love it though…and hey, thanks for walking back to my building with me.” 

“No problem, cupcake.” 

You’re both facing each other; you run a hand through your hair. “…So, this was fun.” 

“It was! We should do it again. Uh, you know,” Laura bit her lip, “If you want to.” 

“I do..,can I ask you one more thing, though? Before I go?” 

“Um, yeah.” 

“What did Danny say about me?” 

“That you were broody, but she was confident that if anyone could bring light into your dark, dark soul, it’d be me.” 

“ _Wow._ She tell you what I look like?” 

She shrugs. “No.” 

“I guess it wouldn’t matter.” 

Laura walks forward. “Well, I can figure out some things.” She reaches out a hand. “Would you mind…?” 

You swallow. “No.” 

Laura brushes her fingertips across your face. “You have a really nice jawline.” She says, “Um…yeah.” Her fingers brush across your lips. “And, your lips…are definitely soft. Wow. I mean, uh–” 

She blushes, her hands retreating from your face. You laugh. “Gosh, Cupcake, if you want a goodnight kiss, just ask.” 

Laura looks so nervous. It’s adorable. “Are you joking…?” 

It’s a split second decision. And an easy one. “No.” 

You cradle her cheek in your hand and kiss her. Laura’s hands reach out and feel your arms, running up them until they cup the back of your neck, and finally settle on clutching your hair. 

“Your hair feels really nice,” Laura whispers when you pull away. 

“ _Seriously?_ My hair is the most interesting part of this?” 

Laura shakes her head, pulling you in again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These oneshots are in the same universe but not in chronological order.

You watch her carefully the first time she walks into your apartment, mouthing to herself as she walked, running her fingers lightly along banisters and furniture. 

“You seem distracted,”  you say, leading her to your couch. 

“I’m sorry, what?” 

“You seem distracted. Something wrong?” 

Laura sits. She looks in your general direction. 

“…I’ve been counting.” 

“Counting?” 

Laura nods. “I counted twenty steps from your front door to your kitchen. From the kitchen, five steps to the right and four steps forward to get to this couch.” 

You sit down next to Laura, putting your hand lightly on her knee. “You’re memorizing that?” 

Laura smiles. “I know we’ve only been dating for a couple of weeks, but…I have a feeling I’ll be coming here a lot more. Is that weird?” 

“No, it isn’t.” You answer. Your hand goes out and lightly brushes across Laura’s lip–it’s a habit you’ve picked up, to let Laura know you’re about to lean in to kiss her. Laura smiles, and you kiss languidly for a few moments before Laura pulls away. 

“…You know, you don’t need to do that.” 

“But I’m your girlfriend.” 

“You know what I mean. I can tell when you’re about to kiss me.” 

Your hand goes to play with Laura’s hair. “Really? Describe it for me.” 

“Well…it’s just a feeling, you know? There’s  _electricity._ In fact…close your eyes.” 

“Okay…” 

“Just…focus on your other senses, you know? It’ll give you an idea of what I mean.” 

You close your eyes. For awhile nothing happens. 

“Uh, Laura–”

“I want it to be surprise. Maybe I won’t kiss you at all. Maybe I’m going to get up, find your purse, and rob you. You’ll never see me again.” 

“ _Laura.”_

She laughs. Then you feel something. Heat. And the smell of Laura’s perfume, spicy. sweet, and sending tingles down your spine. 

“…See what I mean?” Laura whispers, her breath hot against your face. . 

“Yes–Laura, please, you’re killing me.” 

She leans in and  _finally_  her lips press against yours.

“Yeah. It’s official. You’re killin’ me, Hollis.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Carm plans like a romantic date or some grand gesture or something but has to plan it out for a while and laura thinks she's being distant bc she can't handle a relationship with a blind person.

At first you thought maybe it was a coincidence. But, when she blew you off for the third time…well, it’s three strikes and you’re out, right? She talks to you, but she hasn’t met with you. It’s always work or  class or already agreeing to meet another friend. 

 _Another friend?_ You know Carmilla. If it’s between meeting a friend and the opportunity to make out with you in your apartment, she would ditch them in two seconds. So something must be wrong. 

You don’t want to think about it–you’ve been fighting this battle with yourself for years, about exes and friends–but you can’t help the thought creeping into your mind. That maybe Carmilla is realizing this isn’t worth it. 

When she’s here, in your apartment, you feel fine. You know exactly where everything is. Here, you can almost pretend that you have perfect vision. Carmilla can pretend. 

 But outside of the apartment, she does a lot for you. Keeping her apartment super organized for you. Correcting wait staff that always asked Carmilla what you want. Having to plan all of the dates around whether or not you can participate. That meant no theatre, no movie theatres unless she can find one with headsets. 

You’re pretty independent; you live on your own, you make money, you go to school. But no amount of work, of headsets and map memorizing, and occasionally even a cane, can ever change the fact that you can’t actually see and Carmilla can. And what if she’s realizing she can’t handle helping you the rest of her life? 

“This is ridiculous,” you grumble, “I’ll just call her. I’m overreacting.” 

You pick up your iPhone; you’ve memorized the keypad and you punch in her number. 

“…Carmilla, speak.” 

“Carm! It’s Laura.” 

“Babe! Hey. What’s up?” 

“Um…hey, I was thinking, if you can’t meet me for lunch, can you hang out later tonight?” 

“I wish I could, but I’m busy–” 

“With  _what?”_

 _“…_ Whoa, cupcake, what is with the sudden venom?” 

“You’ve been ‘busy’ a lot lately, Carm. Come on. Why don’t you want to see me?” 

“There  _is_ no reason. I’ve been busy. Stop saying busy like you’re using airquotes.” 

“Carmilla, admit it. You’re tired of looking out for me.” 

There’s silences. “…Yeah, that’s enough of an answer for me,” you say–

“Laura, wait! Don’t hang up. Please.” 

“…What?” 

“I promise, cupcake, that this has nothing to do with you. Well, it does. But it doesn’t.” 

“That helps!” 

“Come on, Laura, you know I’m crazy about you.” 

“Then  _act_ like it.” 

“Look…Laura, do I have to do stuff I haven’t had to do for my exes? Of course, you’re blind, it takes a little more work, but–” 

You hang up.

* * *

 

You don’t call Carmilla the next day. Thank God you don’t have work, because you’re a mess. You spend the day eating chips ahoy and crying. 

You feel the braille on the tactile watch on your wrist, realize it’s nine thirty, and get up from the couch to go to bed. 

Then you hear a noise. You can’t quite make it out. It’s coming from outside–

_THUMP._

_“_ What the frilly hell?!” 

You walk toward the sliding glass door that leads to your balcony, open it, get on your knees, and your hand hits fabric. It feels like…

“A  _shoe?”_ This time, you hear the voice. 

“LAURA HOLLIS!” 

“ _Carmilla?”_

 _“_ Get to the edge of the balcony, babe, so I can see your face.” 

You reach your hand out, clutching the edge of the railing and leaning over. You can’t see her, but you want to be as close as possible. 

“This one is for you, Cupcake!” She says, her voice now amplified. A microphone. You hear her play a few chords and then start singing. 

“ _I don’t know why I don’t see happiness in this town._

_Everyone I meet is so uptight wearing a frown._

_What good’s living where dreams come true if nobody smiles?_

_Everyone’s chasing the latest star, the latest style–”  
_

And then the other instruments join in. Oh, God, she got an entire  _band?_ Now you wish, more than any other time in your life, that you could see. Because you can only imagine Carmilla looking at you, probably smiling, because she’s told you before that it’s a good thing you’re not deaf, because she loves music. 

“ _You take me to another space in time._

 _You take me to a higher place s_ _o I—_

_I’m about to get out of the race._

_I don’t mind._

_You ought to know that everything’s nothing if I don’t have you…”_

You sing along with her as she keeps singing, clapping, cheering, generally making a fool of yourself, you’re sure. When it ends you’re laughing, and whoever is with Carmilla starts cheering.  _  
_

“…You have no idea how hard it was to find people to play,  _plus_ all the equipment,  _plus_ practicing, and getting the money for it on top of that all.” Carmilla says into the microphone, “If you’re wondering, the band is all dudes with a bunch of tattoos and questionable pasts. Only the best for you, babe. Sorry I had to blow you off to get it all together.” 

“Carmilla, why don’t you come up here and tell me?” 

“With pleasure!” 

You feel like you’re going to die from the anticipation. You hear the door open and you rush to it. It’s definitely her–she smells like woodsmoke and the perfume you told her you liked one time, and when you hug her, that familiar leather jacket. 

“…Carmilla, oh my God. We watched  _Begin Again_ the first time you came over to my apartment, I can’t believe you remembered I told you I loved that song.” 

“Believe it.” 

“And–not that I’m going to question it–but what is the occasion?” 

“You don’t know?” You feel her tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. “Two month anniversary.” 

“Who the Hell does all of  _this_ for a two month anniversary?” 

“The best girlfriend in the world, that is who.” 

You kiss her. “Ha, ha.” 

“…So, what did you get me?” 

“Oh my God,  _Carmilla,_ I thought you were planning on breaking up with me, why would I–” 

“ _Kidding,_ Cupcake…” she sounds subdued. You cup her cheek. 

“What’s wrong? You suddenly sound…broody.” 

“Is that really what you thought I was doing? Planning on dumping you because I couldn’t handle this? Because,” she kisses your forehead, “As tactless as I was one the phone, what I  _meant_ was, that stuff doesn’t feel like work. I want to do it. It makes me feel good, that you trust me to help you.” 

“I–well, I’m just insecure. I should have never doubted you. That’s on me. Can I make it up to you?” 

Carmilla’s voice goes low and husky. “Can you…?” She purrs. You blush when you feel her fingers ghost up your arm. “Oh, I have all kinds of thoughts about _that.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Choice of song inspired by a chapter of Music to My Ears.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Blind!laura and Carmilla right before their first time. It being clumsy and Laura apologizing and Carmilla like no baby it's ok.

[ ](http://marzo2theletter.tumblr.com/)

[marzo2theletter](http://marzo2theletter.tumblr.com/)

anonymous asked:

Blind!laura and Carmilla right before their first time. It being clumsy and Laura apologizing and Carmilla like no baby it's ok.

 

**Combining this with another anon who’s prompt was:  the first time having sex and carmilla being nervous.**

**Also, hilarious coincidence: as I’m writing this, ‘As Long As You’re Mine’ from Wicked plays on the Pandora Radio I have open in another tab. XD**

You have a weird thing about thunderstorms. Maybe it’s because your ears are extra sensitive or something. You don’t know. Either way, you have a girlfriend now, and one of the bonuses was having someone who could come over at nine o’clock during a storm for cuddles and not have it be weird. 

There’s a knock at the door. You open it and immediately your arms encircle the person in front of you; your hands feel the familiar leather of her jacket. 

“…Wow, I was just here to ask for a cup of sugar. I don’t even know you.” 

“ _Carmilla.”_

_“_ Kidding, Laura. Although I still don’t know how you can tell it’s me immediately.” 

“Everyone knocks differently,” you answer, shrugging. “I’ve learned to notice that kind of stuff. And…you know, you always wear this really nice perfume.” 

“Really?” 

“Well…yeah.” You find Carmilla’s hand, taking it and leading her to the couch. 

“So, what is the occasion that made you beg me to come over at nine o’clock at night?”   

“I kind of…don’t like thunderstorms.” 

Carmilla laughs. “Oh, that is  _adorable._ Well, you’re lucky you have your girlfriend here to protect you from that scary, scary lightning.” 

“Hey, we haven’t been dating that long. I’m  _not_ too invested to break up with you if you give me a hard time about this.” 

Carmilla brings your hand to her lips. “You feel my bottom lip sticking out? I’m _pouting._ Don’t tell me that’s true.” 

No, it’s not. At all. “…How about a movie?” 

Carmilla flops down on the couch and you follow. “I’m feeling kind of lazy, Carm, do you mind…?” 

“I thought I was a  _guest.”_

_“_ You are unbel–” 

“Kidding!” You hear her shoes against the carpet. “So, what do we got here…a lot of Disney movies?” 

“I like musicals.” 

“Probably don’t need to ask why…okay, here. You own  _Begin Again?_ I fucking _love_ that movie.” 

“So do I! I love Higher Place. And Lost Stars. Or, you know, pretty much every song.” 

Carmilla laughs. “ _Begin Again_ it is, then.” 

She pops it into your DVD player and sits down next to you. There’s another clap of thunder, which makes you tense, and Carmilla slides an arm around you, pulling you in close. She shifts you that your head lays against her chest. 

“I’m here, alright?” She whispers, kissing the top of your head. You smile and listen to the movie. You’ve watched it so many times that you can recite it from memory. 

“…I have had such a crush on Keira Knightley because of this movie.” 

“Really? I’ve been told I look  _exactly_ like her.” 

“Ha-ha. I doubt it.” 

She kisses the top of your head and you spend another fifteen minutes in companionable silence until the power goes out. 

“Wait, why did the TV turn off?” 

“Power outage,” Carmilla answers, frowning. “Hey, Laura, do you have a flashlight? Or candles, or something?” 

“…Carmilla, think about that question.”

Carmilla doesn’t answer for a few moments. “ _Right._ Sorry.” 

“It’s fine. So, it’s pitch black?” 

“No, it’s a full moon. I can see you, at least. So all we have to worry about are werewolves.” 

“Don’t even  _joke_ about that.” 

“Seriously?” 

“There’s no proof they  _don’t_ exist.” 

“You are adorable.” There’s another flash of lightning. You flinch again. Carmilla pulls you down on top of her as she lays on her back on the couch. 

“Babe,” Carmilla whispers, “You know, it isn’t safe for me to be driving in this weather, is it?” 

“I guess not…” 

“So I should probably stay until the rain clears up. Until morning. And since we have nothing to do until the power comes back on…” 

You smile; your chin is resting on her chest, and you scooch up. Your hand brushes across her face, and you kiss her. “…I think that sounds nice.” 

You can feel her return the smile as you both kiss, languid and gentle for a few minutes. But then Carmilla puts her hand on the back of your head, pushing you even firmer against her mouth, and both your hands take her cheeks. 

There’s a sudden movement and you feel Carmilla get out from under you, pulling away from the kiss. “What…what’s wrong?” You ask, breathless. 

“Nothing, Cupcake. It’s just that it’s getting rather…well, hot in here. And a leather jacket isn’t making me comfortable. 

You hear the muffled noise of the jacket hitting the floor after Carmilla throws it. Then she grabs you by the hips, shifting again so that you’re straddling her lap. There’s no more time for words; your kisses have never been so…non PG-13 before, and you want more of them  _now._ This time you’re the one that deepens the kiss. And, because you’re feeling all kinds of bold now, your tongue darts out and quickly swipes along Carmilla’s bottom lip. 

“ _Mmmm.._.God, Laura, you are driving me crazy.” 

You smile. “Having fun?” 

“Laura,” Carmilla gasps, “I…fuck, I don’t even know how to ask this, I know we haven’t known each other that long, but…I want…” Carmilla can’t bear to stop kissing you, attaching herself to your lips again and lifting your shirt to spread her fingers across your stomach. 

So that’s totally not PG-13. Your breath hitches. “Carm…let me.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes. I’m definitely sure.” You start unbuttoning the sweater you’re wearing. Years and years of practice are thrown out the window, lust clouding your thoughts and making your fingers clumsy and slow. 

“Wrong button…wait… _ugh…”_ Eventually you can’t take it anymore, just lifting the sweater over your head and getting stuck on the way up. 

“…Sure you don’t need help, baby?” Carmilla asks, amusement in her voice. 

“No, I…okay, I do. I’m so sorry, I’m making this  _so_ unsexy–” 

“Baby, it’s okay.” Carmilla answers, so gentle and sincere that you relax. She helps you tug off the sweater, laying kisses to your neck and top of your chest. 

“Now you’re the one driving  _me_ crazy.” 

She kisses you again. “You feel this smile? This isn’t just a smile. This is a wicked grin.” 

“At least this part is easier.” You say, tugging off your undershirt and bra in one quick motion. Carmilla doesn’t speak. 

You feel so exposed, shivering slightly, topless in front of your girlfriend who’s reaction you can’t really gauge. “Carm? Um…nothing is…surprising you, is it?” You ask, laughing nervously. 

“Oh, I’m surprised, alright,” Carmilla answers. 

“Well, I don’t know what I look like, so I would appreciate–” 

“Do you want to know what you look like?” Carmilla asks. “You…God, Laura, you are gorgeous.” She runs her arms down your shoulders. “Everything about you is  _perfect._ Everything. I could get lost in you for hours–” She stops. “Er, I mean…” 

You kiss her again. “Carm, don’t tell me  _you’re_ nervous? I can’t be the first…you know…” 

“You’re the only one that matters.”  

There’s a pause again. You try and keep the silence from being awkward by reaching out and lightly skimming your fingers across the top of her jeans, grabbing the bottom of her own shirt. 

“…Can I?” 

“Maybe I should, babe. I can’t wait.” 

You grin as you hear the fabric hit her leather jacket, once, then a second time. Her bra, you guess.

Oh, God. 

“Carmilla…sit still.” You put your arms on her sides and run them down her arms, then hit her sides.  You run them up again; her arms are gone, you guess she put them behind her head or something. Your breathing quickly as you feel every beautiful curve of her body. 

“…Oh my God, I am freaking out.” 

“Cupcake, wait, if you want to stop–” 

“No, no! It’s just–oh my God, my entire life girls always felt sorry for me and I never thought that anyone would look at me and, you know, want this–” 

“I would say that anyone who doesn’t want you must be blind, but that is probably kind of tactless.” 

“Shut up and kiss me again.” 

She does, then pulls away. 

“Carmilla, what’s wrong?” You feel her tapping a rhythm on your side. “Oh my God, I was kidding before, but you really  _are_ nervous, aren’t you?” 

You feel the back of her hand against your cheek, then playing with your hair. “A little, yeah.” 

“ _Why?”_

_“_ I’m just afraid I’ll surprise you and do something you weren’t ready for. You’ll let me know if I’m going too far, right?” 

That is  _adorable. “_ Carmilla, whatever you do…I trust you. For one night can we just pretend that I can see everything?”  

“Okay, how many fingers am I holding up, then?” 

“ _Oh my God.”_

She laughs, kissing you again, hungrier than before, pushing you on your back. 

In the back of your mind you hear more thunder, but you don’t care anymore. You’re too wrapped up in Carmilla, in the smell of woodsmoke and violet perfume and wet night air. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Carmilla meeting Papa Hollis

“Carmilla, don’t be so nervous.” 

“How can you tell I’m nervous?” You ask. “I’m fine.” 

“I can hear you tapping the driver’s wheel. You only tap your fingers when you’re nervous.” 

It amazes you, how Laura can know you better than you know yourself without seeing you. 

“…Fine, I’m a little nervous. Can you blame me?” 

“It’ll be fine, Carm. Just be yourself.” 

“My broody, misanthropic self?” 

“Well, you can tone it down a  _little.”_

The GPS says to turn right to your destination. You park in front of a small house with a white picket fence. 

“Okay, moment of truth time.” 

“Pass me my cane?” 

You reach into the back seat and hand it to her. “You really need it, babe? I’m fine letting you hold my arm.” 

“It’s fine. I’ve never been to Dad’s new house, so I’ll need it to move around anyway. Besides, if he sees me relying on you to get around it’ll make it that much harder for him to accept I can take care of myself.” 

You nod, putting your hands in your pockets. You eye her as walks, sweeping the cane back and forth. Even though she can’t see you, you remind yourself not to stare. You always found watching her using a cane really interesting.

She comes to the front porch steps. “You can help me up these if you want,” Laura says, and you hold out a hand, which she grabs lightly to steady herself. “One or two?” 

“Just the one.” 

“Thanks, Carm.” She gives you a quick kiss.  You take a breath and ring the doorbell. The door opens. 

Laura’s father literally towers over you. Your first though is  _Laura’s dad is Ron Swanson?_ He has the mustache. Except, Ron Swanson wasn’t quite as big. He looks down at you, glaring. 

“Um…hi, Mr. Hollis…I’m Carmilla. I’m sure Laura has told you about me.” 

Mr. Hollis looks at Laura. He breaks into a huge grin. Laura jokingly taps his foot with her cane. 

“Wow, what is this really big wall in front of me?….Daddy, hey!” 

“Oh, come here! Give your papa a hug, my little Laurasaurus!” 

He grabs your girlfriend in a bear hug and you quickly snatch the cane from her hand so he doesn’t break it. You smirk.  _Laurasaurus?_

 _“_ Stop with that look, Carm,” Laura says. 

“What look? Who said I had a look?” 

“I know you, and I know you were just giving me a look.” 

You shake your head. Mr. Hollis lets Laura down and looks at you. 

“Hello, Carmilla,” Mr. Hollis says gruffly, holding out his hand. You shake it. “Laura has told me so much about you.” 

“Uh…Laura has told me a lot about you too, sir.” 

“Then I’m sure you know how much I care about my little girl–” 

“ _Daddy.”_

 _“_ Now, Laura, I will not apologize for being concerned about who is dating my daughter.” 

“Can we at least walk into the house before you start the interview?” 

You have a feeling it’ll be more like an interrogation. Mr. Hollis walks into the house; you hand the cane to Laura and follow. 

“I have a feeling this interview will be more like an interrogation.” You whisper. 

“Don’t worry,” Laura answers, “Nothing he says is going to make me break up with you, so just try not to make him think you’re a horrible person.”

“So, Carmilla, how did you and Laura meet?”

“A blind date. Both literally and figuratively, ha ha…” 

 _Oh God, kill me now_ you think. Laura looks like she’s thinking the same thing, and Mr. Hollis…well, he looks like he’d be the one to do it. 

“I already made your favorite, Laura.” Mr. Hollis says. 

“You made blondie brownies?” Laura asks, grinning. Mr. Hollis laughs. 

“No, that’s for later. I meant your favorite  _non baked_ item.” 

“…Oh. Cool! I love pork chops.” 

“The table is five more steps, and the chair is a step to your right.” 

“Thanks, Dad.” 

Laura sits down. 

“Mr. Hollis, please, uh…let me set the table and bring out the food for both of you.” 

“Carmilla, don’t. You’re my guest.” 

“Mr. Hollis, we both know that you’re not treating me as just any guest. Let me.” 

Mr. Hollis nods and sits down. Okay, maybe you  _can_ do this. He seems to like that.

You head to the oven and take out the food. You find the plates in the cupboards, and then spoon the mashed potatoes, green beans, and porkchop on the plate. 

“Okay, here you both go,” you say, placing the food on the table. You’ve been a waitress before, so you can hold three plates and utensils with ease. Mr. Hollis looks at Laura’s plate and frowns. 

“You didn’t cut it?” 

You sit next to Laura. “I’m sorry, what?” 

“You didn’t cut her meat. Here,” he reaches over, cutting Laura’s porkchop. “Laura, your porkchop is at twelve o’clock, your potatoes are at three, and your greenbeans are at nine.” 

“Thanks, Dad,” Laura mumbles, resigned. You eye her. “Uh…what are you doing?” 

“It’s the clock system,” Mr. Hollis explains, “So she knows where her food is on the plate. And Laura, the salt is on the left side of your plate, and the pepper is on the right. Here, let me pour your water so you don’t spill it.” 

Laura smiles. “Thanks, Daddy.” She starts eating. You make stilted small talk with Mr. Hollis. It’s clear he doesn’t like you all that much. 

“What do you do for a living, Carmilla?” 

“I’m a musician, sir. And I wait tables.” 

“Carmilla is fantastic,” Laura adds, putting a hand over yours. 

“Well, are you prepared to make all the modifications to your home if you and Laura get serious enough?” 

“ _Dad!”_

 _“_ I’m sorry, modifications? Like what?” 

“Railings? A braille clock? Making sure that you don’t have any furniture on wheels that could move around–” 

“Dad, I have to use the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” Laura gets up abruptly; her foot catches on the bottom of the chair and she trips. There’s a  _crack_ as her cane, which she had leaning next to her, snaps. 

“Laura!” You kneel down. “Are you alright?” 

“Ow…yeah…I’m fine. There’s probably going to be a bruise, though.” 

Mr. Hollis keels and feels Laura’s head; she winces. “Yeah, that’ll bruise. Laura, did you bring your folding cane?” 

“I forgot it.” 

He looks at you. “Did you remember to bring her spare?” 

You were  _supposed_ to remember? “…No.” 

“Take her to the bathroom, they’ll be an ice pack in the medicine cabinet.” He looks at Laura’s glass, which had tipped. “I’ll clean this mess.” 

“Thank you, sir.” 

Laura takes your arm and you help her into the bathroom. She closes the lid of the toilet and sits, and you search for the ice pack. 

“Laura?” 

“Yeah?” 

You find the ice pack. “…Am I doing enough for you?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I know it’s stupid, but your dad keeps talking about hand rails and cutting your food and making sure you don’t spill your drink and the ‘clock system’ and–” 

Laura actually starts laughing. “Carmilla, I would break up with you in two seconds if you’d tried to start doing all that for me.”

You place the ice pack to her head. “You would?” 

“Salt shakers have bigger holes in them than pepper shakers. I can feel the temperature change on the outside of the glass as it fills with water, so I can tell when it’s full. Cutting meat isn’t that hard–you start at the edge and sort of just cut in a semi circle. Did you see any handrails in my apartment?” 

You smile. “I think I get it, Hollis.” 

“You see? I don’t  _want_ you to do all of that stuff for me. If I had wanted you to, I would have asked you. I’ve been told I look like a sixteen year old, and I’m blind. For the first time in my life I’m with someone who looks at me and sees me as an  _adult._ Who can take care of herself.” 

“That’s because you  _are.”_

Laura smiles. She reaches out, finds your cheek, and leans in. You both kiss. 

“See? I mean, I won’t lie and say you’re perfect all the time, but you’re  _trying._ And you’re so much better than when we first met. Feel better?” 

“…Your Dad was just psyching me out, I guess. I don’t even know what I was thinking. Come on, he’s probably going to break down the door any second.” 

Laura takes your arm gingerly, and you both walk back into the kitchen. 

“Is she alright?” Mr. Hollis asks. 

You look at Laura. “You can ask her. Because she’s an adult.” 

“Carmilla–” 

“Mr. Hollis, I love your daughter, and she’s an adult. I want you to know that I will do anything Laura asks me to do, but this is  _her_ life, and it’s not my job to assume she can’t do things on her own. I trust her to know when to ask me for help.” 

Mr. Hollis raises an eyebrow. 

“…I mean, you know, just a thought,” you finish quickly. 

“A really,  _really_ good thought.” Laura points out. 

Mr. Hollis crosses his arms. “…Well, Laura, my own feelings aside…I have to admit, she is exactly the kind of girl you told me you want.” 

You grin. Nothing like barely gaining approval from the in-laws. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Someone hits on Carmilla right in front of Laura and Laura is not having any of it. orrrr maybe Ell makes a guest appearance???

You picked the best restaurant, one of those places that give stamp sized portions that cost an arm and a leg. But you and Laura are only going to have a one year anniversary once, so you think it only makes sense to indulge a little. 

“Oh my God, Carm, is that live violin music?” 

“A string quartet, actually.” You answer, smiling at the wonder that spreads across Laura’s face. 

“It’s beautiful. Thank you.” 

“Reservations under Karnstein,” you say to the front of house. She smiles and leads you both to your table. You take Laura gently by the elbow and guide her into the chair. 

“Hey, Carm, what’s on the menu?” 

“What are you in the mood for? Chicken, fish, pasta?” 

“Dessert.” Laura answers, grinning. 

“All in due time, Cupcake.” 

“…I guess I’ll hear what the pasta dishes are. But we’re getting appetizers, right? I’m really in the mood for mozzarella sticks.” 

“Laura, they charge twenty five dollars for a cheese platter, you really think they’re going to have mozzarella sticks?” 

“The cheese platter sounds good, then.” 

You lean back in your chair and look out at the restaurant. Your eye catches a familiar face disappearing into the kitchen, and you slouch at the table. 

“Oh,  _shit.”_

 _“_ What is it? What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, nothing…I just spotted an ex.” 

“An ex or  _the_ ex?” 

You’ve told Laura quite a bit about her. 

“…Yeah, it’s Ell.” 

Laura reaches across the table, her fingers resting on your hand. “We can go if you want–” 

“No, Laura, I promised you a great dinner for our anniversary and I’m giving you one. Besides, who said she’ll even be–” 

“Hello, my name is Ell and I’ll be your server for tonight!” 

…If you hid under the table, would Laura notice? 

You look at Ell; as soon as she recognizes you her face pales and her doe-like eyes widen. 

“Hey, Ell. Long time no see.” 

“Carmilla. Hey. Um…and you brought a–” 

“Girlfriend,” Laura says, looking in Ell’s direction, “I am Carmilla’s girlfriend.” 

“Oh,” Ell’s eyes flit to the cane resting against Laura’s chair, and then to her clouded eyes. “Oh. Well, nice to meet you. What can I get both of you to drink tonight?” 

“Red wine for me,” you answer. 

“And your date?” 

“You can ask her yourself,” you answer, not in the best tone. Ell looks at Laura. 

“Um, red wine is fine with me. Thanks.” 

Ell writes it down and walks stiffly away. 

“Her voice was really soft and sweet and she smelled like honey. Carmilla, I don’t care if you have to lie,  _please_ tell me I’m hotter than her.” 

“Honestly, Cupcake, she doesn’t hold a candle to you.” 

“Even if she did, I guess I wouldn’t notice anyway…” 

You smile, and Ell puts the tray down and hands out the drinks. 

“And here you both go…ready to order?” 

“Yeah, I’ll have the eggplant parmesan,” you answer, “Laura, did you want to hear the pasta dishes?” 

“That’s fine. If you have penne with vodka sauce, I’ll go with that.” Laura finds the menu with her hands, folding it and handing it to Ell. 

“Okay.” She turns on her heel and walks away. Her ponytail hits Laura’s face as she walks away and Laura swats at it, hitting her wine glass and spilling it on her shirt. 

“Seriously?” Laura gets up, grabbing her cane. You start to as well and Laura hears your chair scrape against the floor. 

“Carm, don’t get up. I don’t want the food the come and neither of us are here. I’ll only be, like, five minutes.” 

She uses her cane and goes to find someone that can lead her to the restroom. You’ve learned not to question Laura when she wants to do something on her own, so you sit at the table and brood. 

“I just put in your orders, but here are the breadsticks,” Ell says, placing them in the center of the table. 

“Yeah, whatever.” 

“…Where’s your date?” 

“Bathroom. Spilled wine on herself.” 

“Oh.” 

“Anything else, because I’m pretty sure you have plates to balance or something.” 

Ell bites her lip. “No, nothing. Except, you know, it’s nice to see you. You look good.” 

“Well, so do you. Ripping my heart out must be good for the skin or something.” 

“Carmilla, if it means anything, I’ve regretted it ever since.” 

“It means nothing.” 

“I  _apologized_ as soon as I realized I was wrong–” 

“And the fact that you believed my mother for a second means that I will never get back together with you.” 

Ell sighs. She bites her lip, sitting down in Laura’s seat. 

“…Carmilla, does it ever bother you? You know, I can’t help noticing the cane…” 

You’re shocked into silence. 

“I mean, does it bother you that she’ll never know what you look like? That everyone stares at you both? That you can’t do a lot of things together–” 

“What the  _frilly hell_ are you doing talking to my girlfriend?” 

You turn around and see a hundred twenty pounds of angry Laura Hollis. 

Wow, she picks up on voices fast. 

“Babe, I swear I didn’t–” 

“Let me tell you something, you blonde barbie clone–no Carm didn’t tell me that, it was just a guess–” 

Wow, she was good.

“–Carmilla and I have been dating for a  _year_ today, so I think if she had any problems dating me, it would have come up. And I can do plenty of things with her, thank you very much. We listen to music, we talk, we go for walks, we…we…” Laura walks forward, putting one hand on the table as a guide, scrunching her fingers angrily. “You’re lucky this cane is fragile, or I would beat you over the head with it!” 

She taps Ell’s foot. She yelps. 

“Now,  _get out of my seat.”_

Ell scrambles to her feet. “I’ll find someone else to bring out your orders.” 

“Cupcake…” Laura looks in your direction, smiling innocently, sitting in her seat. 

“Hey, Carm. Oooh, I smell breadsticks!” Laura feels the table until she finds the basket, taking a bite. “Mmm! Want one?” 

She waits for your answer. “…What? Hollis let anyone mess with my girl? You have to be kidding me.“


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Ooo oh! ok what if blind!laura got eye surgery to fix her eye sight and she sees carmilla for the first time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After that ep, we needed something fluffy. Really really fluffy.
> 
> Note that this is an alternate ending to the blind!AU. If anyone wants to send any different prompts about blind!Laura married life, be my guest.

You sit in the doctor’s office, your girlfriend holding your hand, petting your hair lightly.

“So…” Carmilla started. 

“Yeah.” 

“Medical science has really improved, huh?” 

You laugh lightly. “That’s an understatement.”

“You don’t seem that excited. Surprising, to say the least.” 

You twist the bracelet you have on your wrist. “Well–I mean, it’s  _expensive,_ the doctor said it would be–”

“Laura, do you think I would put a price on getting your eyesight back? We’ll find the money. Plus, we have insurance. It would be tight but we’d make it work. What’s the  _real_ reason?” 

You bite your lip, sighing. “I’m…look, I know this is ridiculous…but there’s a chance it won’t work. And I’d rather never see than get the surgery and have all this hope–”

“You mean, giving  _me_ all this hope, don’t you?” Carmilla responds. You’re afraid of how she must look when she says it. You nod silently. You feel soft lips press to your temple.

“…Laura, after three years together, do you really think this is for  _me?_ I want to do this for  _you._ I don’t care if you can see or not. We’ve had this conversation, haven’t we?” 

“I know, I  _know._ But don’t pretend there isn’t stuff you wished I could do.” 

Carmilla pauses. “Of course there is. I wish you could see the way I look at you, Laura.”

God, is your girlfriend smooth.

“…I do, too.” 

“Then what, exactly, is stopping us?” 

You feel the braille pamphlet in your hands. 60 _% success rate. Returns 70% of normal vision…_

 _“_ I guess nothing is.” You answer, and you feel Carmilla lips smile against your own while you wait for the doctor to return. 

* * *

 

 **“** Hey, Laura, you feeling ready?” 

“Well, I’m being wheeled in by the doctors right now, so I have no choice.” 

Carmilla takes your hand. “Hey, whatever happens…you know, right?”

“I know.” 

“And I’ll be the first face you see when you wake up.” You smile. 

“Promise?” 

“Absolutely. Or I’ll be the first voice you hear. Either way, I’ll be happy.” She kisses your hand. “And you’ll love the glasses I got you, by the way. Huge, coke bottle frames, with green polka dots–”

“ _Carmilla.”_

 _“_ Fine, I’ll get boring glasses. And hey,” you feel her lips press against your quickly as her hand slips out of your grasp. “Kiss for good luck. Take her away, doctors.” 

You feel yourself being wheeled away, then a mask over your face, and then your mind goes black.

* * *

 

 **“** …Miss Hollis?” 

You feel groggy, furrowing your brow. “Huh? Wha…?”

“You’ve just come out of surgery, Miss Hollis.” 

Carmilla had promised she would be the first voice you heard. You frown. “I can’t see anything. Oh my God, I can’t see anything. Did it–”

“It’s okay,” the doctor’s voice says gently, “There are bandages on your voice.” 

You hand gropes your head and you feel them, breathing a sigh of relief. “So, it worked?”

“We won’t know until we take them off. Sit up, Miss Hollis. Nurse, can you hand me the scissors?” 

This is it. The moment of truth. You sit up (with some help) as the doctor gently cuts through your bandages.

“Where is my girlfriend?” You ask. “Carmilla Karnstein?” 

“She knows you’re out of surgery.” Is all he says. 

She didn’t even come see you?

“Alright, Miss Hollis, I’m about to remove them.” 

“The suspense is killing me.” 

The doctor laughs. Gently, he lifts them off your face. You gasp.

“…Told you I would be the first face you’d see, Cupcake. What are you seeing?” 

“Blurs. Lots and lots of blurs. But  _colored_ blurs. Oh my gosh, that’s what brown hair looks like.” 

Carmilla laughs. “Luckily, I got you these. Here.” Her hand reaches out and you take what’s in it. Glasses. You put them on and, for the first time, you can see Carmilla clearly. 

You’ve been blind for as long as you can remember. There is no metaphor you can use to describe the woman looking at you with the biggest smile on her face, holding a small open box in her hands. All of the cliches you’ve heard from movies flashes through your mind–fine art, cut diamond, marble sculpture–but none of them work. They don’t feel right. They’re not strong enough. 

So what does she look like? Carmilla. She looks like Carmilla. And it’s better than anything you could have imagined. 

But what about the box…? God. Oh, God. 

“Carmilla, I don’t what that an engagement ring looks like, is that…?” 

She smiles even wider. “Yeah, Cupcake, it is. I wanted the first thing you saw to be me proposing. What do you say?” 

Your doctor and nurse are standing to the side, looking at you. They were in on this. Wow. 

“OH MY GOD. OF COURSE. I want to go home now. I want to go home right now and call dad and gosh everyone tells me he looks like Ron Swanson, I need to look that up too–” 

Carmilla takes your hand. “Of course. But we got to calm you down first, or they’re not going to let you out.” 

* * *

 

“So? What do you think?” Carmilla asks. “Your first experience looking at yourself in the mirror” 

You eye yourself for a few seconds before looking back at your fiance with a smirk. “I think I’m way out of your league.” 

“Ha, ha. I was afraid of what would happen when you figured out how hot you are.” 

“You’re one to talk. So this is our apartment, huh? We need to repaint the walls.” 

“Why?” 

“I don’t like the color.” 

“But you told me you didn’t care about the color–” 

“I was  _blind,_ Carmilla.” 

You both pause and look at each other. 

“…So, this is it, huh?” 

“What, Cupcake?” 

“The way you look at me.” 

Carmilla smiles softly, pulling you in so your foreheads gently touch. “Yes. Like it?” 

“It’s nice. I love you. I love everything. I love colors, I love your eyes, I love the way your hair is kind of wavy, I…well, you look even better than you sound.” 

“And you are adorable, with your nerdy glasses.” 

“…Hey, before we tell my dad the news, can I see that picture of Ron Swanson?” 

Carmilla takes out her phone, typing something quickly, before showing you the screen. “Hey looks exactly like this, no lie.” 

You burst into giggles and you need Carmilla to hold you up. As much as you love looking at her, there’s still nothing better than being wrapped in her arms surrounded by her scent. She smells like home. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Creampuff week, the prompt for day one was 'fireworks'. 
> 
> Also combined with several prompts asking for Laura adjusting to her new eyesight.

Some of life with vision wasn’t as good as you thought it’d be. Mostly, there’s a lot of things you see you wish you didn’t see. 

For instace: you are walking with Carmilla in the city, holding hands. You’re looking at Carmilla as she looks in the shops of buildings. She has an amazing profile. You don’t think you’ll ever get tired of looking at her. 

“…Hey, Carm, wait.” You stop and see a man holding a sign. 

**Cold, broke and hungry.**

**“** ….I didn’t know we had homeless people here.” 

“All cities do, Cupcake.” 

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice them.” 

“Well, you kind of couldn’t, could you?” 

That’s true. And logically you knew New York had some homeless people, but you never saw the problem. Until now. 

“We can’t just not do anything!” 

“Laura, if we stopped and gave money to every homeless person–” 

She takes one look at your face, sighs, and hands him twenty dollars. “Look, I have a surprise, Laura, can we go?” 

“Where we going?” 

“I’ll show you. This is the first time you’ve seen the city at night and I want to do it right.” 

You smile at her. Since you left the hospital two days ago Carmilla has taken joy in every new thing you see. 

“Okay, Laura, close your eyes. You’re going to love this.” 

You humor her, and you do. For awhile. “Uh, Carm, are we ready yet?” 

“Yeah, here you go. I give you: Times Square at night.” 

You open your eyes. And immediately regret it. 

The entire area is awash in light, even though it’s nighttime. There’s so much color that it’s like fireworks exploding in front of you. It’s weird to describe something you see as  _loud,_ but it is. It’s loud.  _Too_ loud. So loud that it hurts. 

“…So? What do you think?” Carmilla looks at you, grinning. “Amazing, isn’t it?” 

You don’t answer; you close your eyes tight. You can’t speak. It’s too much. 

“Uh, Laura?  _Laura?_ Are you alright?” 

“Er…yeah…yeah…I mean, no. Actually.”

Carmilla’s mood changes immediately. She grabs your arm. “Oh my God Laura, you look bad. What is wrong?” 

“Nothing, it’s just…it kind of…you know, overload.” 

“Oh shit…Laura, I’m so sorry. Come on, just keep your eyes closed, we’ll find somewhere quiet.” 

You do keep your eyes closed, and let Carmilla drag you away. You kind of wish you still had your cane. 

* * *

 

She takes you to this little bar near Broadway called Lillie’s. It’s packed, but it’s dark, and you feel like you can open your eyes here. Carmilla looks so guilty. 

“Laura, I am so sorry. I am a fucking idiot.” 

“No, Carm, you were trying to do something nice.” 

“Still, a blind person has their eyesight less than a week, I should of known taking you to  _freaking Times Square_ would be a little overwhelming.” 

“It’s really okay.” 

You focus on everything you don’t need to see. The smell of alcohol on the bar. The murmur of conversation at surrounding tables. The feeling of Carmilla’s hand covering yours. 

“…Carm, what if I don’t like being able to see?” 

“What?” 

“I mean…I see so many things now that I  _don’t_ like. Like all of these homeless people I see now. And the pictures of wars on the news. And now…I mean, I used to love Times Square. I loved all the noise, the music and everything. Now I can’t even stand there without almost passing out from shock…” 

“Laura, you’ll get used to it. I promise.” 

“I hope I do. At least I get to look at  _you_ now.” 

Carmilla smiles sadly. “Hey. It’ll be okay. I promise. Want to go home?” 

* * *

 

Both of you walk home silently together, suffering from your own kinds of guilt. Hers for putting you through that, you for making Carm think that giving you back your sight might have been a mistake. 

She holds by the elbow as you both walk up the stairs, a relic from when you were blind, but you still appreciate. 

“Home, sweet home,” Carmilla mumbles, sitting down on the couch, turning on the TV. You have a feeling she needs space, so you go out on the balcony. 

The lights are pretty from far away. You hear a noise in the sky and look up. Your mouth hangs open. 

“Carm!” 

“Huh, what?” 

“ _Look!”_ You point at the sky  as Carmilla got up and joined you. “Are those fireworks? It sounds like it.” 

“Yeah. Those are fireworks.” 

You look at the sky, as the distance erupts in blues, pinks, greens, reds, every color you’ve learned to recognize and some you don’t. 

“Carm, I forget, what is that one?” 

“Purple, Cupcake.” 

“It’s  _beautiful._ I can’t believe it. I’ve always wanted to see fireworks but I didn’t think they’d look  _that_ amazing…” 

Carmilla smiles at your face, filled with wonder, and put a hand on your hip to pull you close. “I love you,” she whispers, pressing a kiss to your temple, and you grin. 

“I love you, too. Forget what I said before. I love seeing. I love everything!” 

Sometimes it’s the little things that make you realize everything will be okay. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: for your blind!laura fic... I have this headcanon that, on the first weeks seeing again, Laura liked to admire Carmilla like in every little moment of the day. Like sleeping, or eating, or watching tv. And Carmilla notices this and blushes and asks why she's staring and Laura is all like: 'because of all things that I saw till now... You are the most beautiful.'

In the three years you’ve been together, you’ve gotten used to the way Laura never really seemed to look directly at you. She would look in your general direction, or at some spot  _just_ above or below your eyes, but never right at you. It was just another quirk of being blind and you learned not to mind it. 

So, now it seems  _so strange_ for Laura to look at you.  _Actually_ look at you and stare at every moment of the day. You would catch her looking at you instead of watching the movie, or  open your eyes in the morning and find her already looking at you. 

You are  _not_ complaining. You love Laura’s eyes. The operation made them less cloudy and now you even see a few flecks of gold in them.

But she did it  _so much._

You finally ask her about while you’re in the car, driving up to meet Mr. Hollis at some little beach house on the Jersey Shore. Laura hasn’t asked about learning to drive yet, thank  _God,_ because you’re sure the idea will give you a heart attack even if logically she wasn’t any different from another person who needed glasses to see driving a car. 

“So, Laura, first roadtrip. What do you think?” 

“I feel like a dog, the way I’m sticking my head out the window.” Laura giggles. “But you know what? I’m not even embarrassed.” 

“Well, you’ve always been a bit of a puppy anyway.”  

Laura wrinkles her nose at you and you return your eyes to the road. Out of the corner of your eye you see that Laura  _doesn’t_ return to the window. She’s watching you now, smiling slightly. 

“…Okay, Cupcake, what gives?” 

“What?” 

“Laura, not that I necessarily  _mind,_ but…you know, have you noticed you’ve been staring at me a lot lately?” You laugh. “You’ve been missing out on all those exciting blurs we’re driving past.” 

Laura grins. “Carmilla Karnstein, am I making the gorgeous, beautiful, confident woman  _self-conscious?”_

_“_ No! I still know I’m gorgeous. But I’m just wondering what you’re finding so…worth scrutinizing.” You blush. Now you feel ridiculous. Laura puts a hand over your own that’s on the stickshift. 

“…Carmilla, it’s because you’re still the most beautiful thing I’ve seen since I got my sight back.” 

“Even more than  _cinnabons?”_ You mock-gasp, holding a hand over your heart. 

(You took her to a Cinnabon Store the second she got out of the hospital. She practically cried from happiness.)

Laura’s eyes crinkled. “Yes. Even more than cinnabons.” 

“Wow, you’re in love with me, aren’t you?” 

“…Babe, I’m  _marrying_ you.” 

You laugh. “I  _know,_ Laur. And how lucky you are. Hey–check it out. We’re driving over the bay right now.” 

Laura presses her nose to the window, gaping at the sight of the dark blue, pristine water. “You know what I always loved about the beach?” She unlocks the window. “The smell. I never felt like I was missing too much because I could smell the sea and the sand and I could go into the water…I was wrong. It’s  _so beautiful,_ isn’t it? I mean, you probably don’t care, but…I mean…I still can’t even describe it right.” 

Now it’s your turn to stare. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Blind Laura au where Carmilla has discovered one of her favorite things is making Laura guess what's in stuff like smoothies by making her taste them or like guess the scents of candles in a candle store

It was their second date. 

After their kiss in front of Laura’s apartment, Carmilla had called Laura, gotten a _very_ long ‘I told you so’ text from Danny, and sweated over what to do with a blind girl. 

Eventually Carmilla got so nervous about messing up that she sucked it up and called her. 

“Hey?” 

“Laura, hi. It’s Carmilla.” 

“Oh, _hey,_ we still on for tonight?” 

“Absolutely. Quick question, though. What do you want to do?” 

“Uh…I thought you were planning. I mean, not that I’m _complaining,_ but, you know, just wondering what changed your mind.” 

Carmilla ran a hand through her hair. “Look, Laura, I’ll be honest. I’m new at this. And I don’t want to take you somewhere and not realize you can’t enjoy it. We went to a movie last night and–” 

“Carm, it’s _fine.”_ Laura assured her, “I like talking to you. How about we go to the mall or something? Just to talk.”

“Cool. Yeah. The mall.” 

“Awesome! I can’t wait.” 

Laura hung up, and Carmilla was left smiling. She could do this. She was Carmilla ‘smooth as Hell’ Karnstein. 

On the _other_ hand, she could usually coast by in the personality department because she was so hot that no one cared if she was apathetic and slightly morally ambiguous. She did not have that luxury with Laura. 

Carmilla swallowed and got ready for her date. 

* * *

 

The moment Carmilla walked into the mall, finding Laura was easy. She was standing near the entrance, holding a cane in one hand. 

“Laura!” 

Laura turned toward her, smiling. “Carmilla. Hey.” 

“Ready to go in?” 

“Sure!”

They walked inside. Carmilla watched Laura pretty closely as she swept the cane left and right in front of her. She’d never seen someone use a cane up close. She didn’t even seem to be paying attention to it. Like it was an extra limb or something. 

“…So, um, how was your day?” Laura asked. 

“Uh, great. Great.”

God, Carmilla was shoving her tongue in Laura’s mouth yesterday, and now she can’t even have a conversation with her. And Laura seems to pick up on the tension. 

“Is something wrong?” 

“What? No–” 

“It’s the cane, isn’t it?” 

“No! Of course not. It’s just…you know, it’s a change. Not a _bad_ change. But a change.” 

Laura smiled. “Look, it’s okay to ask questions about it if you’re curious. I don’t want it to be _all_ we talk about, but it’s also not good to try and pretend _this_ doesn’t exist. You know what I mean?” 

It lets some of the tension in Carmilla’s shoulders lessen. “Yeah, I do. Okay. Here’s a question; I heard that when you’re blind your other senses get better. That true?” 

“Well, I don’t really have a frame of reference. I _can_ tell you we’re standing near a Yankee Candle store.” 

Carmilla looked to the right. “Wow, that’s good.” 

“Thanks.” 

Carmilla had a sudden idea. “Hey, come on.” 

“What?” 

“Let’s have a little fun.” 

Laura let Carmilla drag her into the Yankee Candle. “Um, what are we doing?” 

“A game.” She grabbed a jar, popping off the lid. “Let’s call it ‘guess that smell’. What is this one?” 

Laura rolled her eyes, smiling, and humored her. She took a sniff. “Vanilla?” 

“Good. That was the warm up. Now, this one.”

“Sea foam.” 

Carmilla grabbed another. “Try this one.” 

“Hmm…pumpkin…?” 

Carmilla smirked. 

“Wait. Autumn harvest. I’m detecting kind of a leafy sort of smell too.” 

Carmilla’s jaw dropped. “Wow, you are good.” 

“Yep. I am unbeatable!” 

Carmilla’s eyes scanned the store.

Wow, that would be perfect. 

“Okay, Laura, try this one.” 

Laura took a large whiff. “Um…I’m not sure what this one is, actually.” 

“Ha! Got you! It’s ‘Faith, Hope, Dreams, and Love’.” 

Laura wrinkled her nose. “That isn’t fair! How is that a _smell?”  
_

“Hey, I didn’t call you ‘unbeatable’. I won fair and square.” 

“Well, _you_ got to get me ice cream as a consolation prize.” 

Carmilla shrugged. “Sure. Let’s go.” 

They found a Haagen Dazs in the food court and Laura sat down while Carmilla ordered them the ice cream. 

“Here you go, Cupcake. Chocolate Midnight Cookie flavor.” 

Laura tore into the ice cream, taking a few large spoonfuls. 

“Hey, what’d you get?” Laura asked. 

“Oh, it’s–” 

“Wait. You’re sitting across from me, right?” 

“Yeah.” 

Laura smiled, leaning across the table. Carmilla got the hint and moved her head so Laura could press her mouth over hers. 

“…Rum and raisin? Am I right?” Laura asked, licking her lips. 

She was. “No. Not at all. You can try again, though.” 

Laura grinned and kissed Carmilla again. “Okay, it is _definitely_ rum and raisin. Liar.” 

“You know, I normally don’t play games, but this one? I think I’m going to be playing it with you a lot.” 

“So, you’re already thinking about doing this more?” Laura asked. 

Carmilla took her hand. “Yes.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: For the blind!Laura AU, what about Laura meeting Carmilla's family for the first time and Will and her mother are terrible. And then Laura doesn't really know how she feels about mattie and is kind of disheartened by the whole night but then like carmilla or maybe mattie reassures her that Carm is serious about her.

The mood is different than when you introduced Carmilla to your dad. It was nervous, but also excited. Now you can just _feel_ the fear radiating off Carmilla as she tapped the steering wheel. 

“Carm, baby, you are a nervous wreck. What’s wrong?” 

“How can you tell?” 

“You know–” 

“I tap my fingers when I’m nervous, yeah, yeah, I get it.” Carmilla snaps. You fold your hands in your lap. 

“Sorry.” 

You feel a hand running through your scalp. “…Babe, I’m sorry. It’s just–I mean, you know how much I hate my family.” 

“You like your sister, though.” 

“I know, and if this party wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be going.” 

You take Carmilla’s hand from your hand, holding it in your lap. “If they’re your family, I’m sure I’ll find _something_ to like.” 

“Don’t speak too soon, Cupcake.” The car comes to a stop. “Okay, we’re here. I should probably tell you one more thing?” 

“Sure. What?” 

“I kind of…neglected to mention that I was dating you until yesterday.” 

You smile. “Hey, as long as they aren’t surprised to see me, right?” 

“About _that…”_ She trails off. You tilt your head. 

“Carm, they know I’m blind, right?” 

She doesn’t answer. 

“Carmilla you _didn’t tell them?”  
_

 _“_ Well, might as well get it over with! Let’s go!” Carmilla gets out of the car and you follow her, grabbing your cane. 

“Carmilla, answer my question!” 

“Let me worry about it, Laura.” 

“Oh my God, so help me I will break up with you right–” 

“And _you_ must be Laura!” 

“ _Hiiiii_ Miss Karnstein! Or Mattie. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell which. Because I’m blind. You know, I can’t see? Since I’m blind. Not sure if Carm told you that. But, nice to meet you.” 

You hold out a hand until Carm presses lightly on your back. 

“Cool it, Cupcake,” she whispers in your ear, “And that was my mom.” 

“How’d she look?” You ask as you walk in. 

“…Let me worry about that, Laura.” 

Oh, _wonderful.  
_

 _“_ Will, Mattie, my girlfriend Laura. Mother, I know you just met her.” 

You _really_ wish you could see their reactions to you right now. 

“Dude, you’re seriously dating a blind girl–OW!” 

“Leave it alone, _William.”  
_

 _“_ Carmilla, that is no way to treat your little brother!” 

“Or a guest, unappealing as you may find her. To be fair to Millie.” An unfamiliar says. Mattie, you guess. 

“Look…guys, yes. She is blind. Can we please let it drop?” 

“Let it _drop?_ Carmilla, you neglect to tell me you are dating this woman for two years. And when you finally tell me, you decide to neglect to tell me _this?”  
_

You’re starting to feel like a puppy Carm is trying to convince her parents to keep. 

“Mother, I will date whoever I want. I don’t need your preapproval. Ever think that this reaction was _why_ I didn’t want to say anything?” 

“You can’t blame us for being a bit shocked when she walked in with _that.”  
_

The cane, you guess. Okay. You’ve had enough of just standing there. 

“I don’t need the cane,” you answer. 

“Babe–” 

“No, I really don’t. See? I can get around as well as all of you. Really. Let’s just pretend I’m not blind, okay? Carm’s sister is celebrating her birthday today. Let’s focus on that.” 

You take two steps. 

“Laura, wait–” 

And then fall flat on your face. 

“…There’s a step there, babe.” 

You get up. “I’m fine.” You reach a hand out and feel someone’s face. 

Why are you such a mess today? 

“Uh, you know this is my face, right?”

“Sorry, Will, right?” You retract your hand and blush.  

“Well, Millie, you really got yourself a keeper there,” Mattie says dryly. You hear the scrape of a chair as, you guess, she sits down. “Clearly such an independent woman.” 

You grit your teeth. “Who do you think–” 

“ _Okay,_ let’s not let this ruin my oldest’s birthday.” Miss Karnstein said in a sing song voice, pulling another chair out. “You. Sit down. The chair is–” 

“I heard it, thank you.” 

You sit down and feel an arm snake around your waist. 

“I’m sorry,” Carmilla whispers. She presses your cane into your hand underneath the table, “But don’t get yourself hurt over it, please?” 

You squeeze her hand and smile. “Thanks,” you mouth. She’s right. It’s best to just enjoy the dinner. Your hands hover over the table in front of you, the tips of your fingers brushing over the plates and utensils so that you know where everything is. 

“…So, Carmilla, how did you and Laura meet?” 

“A blind date.” Carmilla answers. 

You hear a snicker. 

“Will, you little punk, shut up.” 

You _definitely_ don’t like Will. 

“Carmilla, that is no way to talk to your brother.” 

And you also don’t like Carmilla’s Mom. 

“In all fairness, I am sure they’re getting rather tired of that particular bit of irony.” 

You aren’t sure if you hate Mattie. She’s unpleasant, at the very least. 

“Oh, come _on,_ it’s funny,” Will answers. 

You keep your head down. For Carm’s sake you’ll stay quiet. Plus, he’s just some snotty sixteen year old kid. 

“Hey, sis, I have a question,” Will continues, “What convinced you to go on a date with a blind girl you don’t even know?”

“For your information, I didn’t even know she–” Carmilla stops. 

“And you didn’t even dump her once you found out?” 

Your palms slam on the table. 

“I. Am. Standing. Right. Here.” You snap. 

“Babe–” 

“I am _blind,_ not _deaf.”  
_

“Hey, I’m just wondering. Not like she doesn’t have a ton of options. You may not notice, but Carmilla could date anyone she–”  

You swing your cane. It’s a lucky hit; you could only hear Will but you got him right on the head. You hear a clatter and you realize the cane broke. 

“ _Will!”_ Miss Karnstein exclaimed. 

_“_ Relax, the cane is really flimsy. She didn’t hit him that hard!” Carmilla said. 

“ _Fuck,_ sugar-puss, your girlfriend is crazy!”

You’re sure any attempt at getting in her family’s good graces won’t work _now.  
_

“Carm, where’s your room?” 

“Laura–” 

“Carmilla, don’t even…I need to get out of here. Please tell me where your room is.” 

You hear Carmilla sigh. “Up the stairs, go straight.” 

You stumble awkwardly through the house, keeping a hand on the wall. You feel so lost without the cane. You _hate_ strangers’ houses. You hate this one especially. No wonder it took you so long to meet Carmilla’s family. As you grope your way up the stairs and then hit the door, you grasp the doorknob and turn. It opens and you once again feel around and find a bed. You fall into it and cry. 

Your eyes don’t do tears, but you make all the customary noises and shuddering breathes. At least you can pretend you were never crying. That’s the last thing you need. 

The doorknob turns again and you sit up. “C-Carmilla?” 

“No, but it’s nice to see you.” 

“Mattie?” 

“Yes, it is. Now,” you feel Mattie’s weight shifting the mattress. She’s next to you. “That was some stunt you pulled.” 

“Look, I know you hate me, and now you’re not even irrational for hating me ‘cause I attacked your brother, so please just leave me–” 

Mattie starts laughing. “Darling, he may be my brother, but do you know how many times I’ve wanted to hit him over the head? Besides, the only thing you’ve hurt is his ego. Here,” Mattie presses a glass in your hand, “Water.” 

You take a cautious sip. “…Where is Carm?” 

“Having a very heated argument with Mother and William. Using lots of words like ‘ableism’ and ‘privilege’ and whatnot. It’s rather impressive. I’ve never seen Millie this passionate about anything in here life.” 

“Except maybe Joan Jett,” you mutter, and Mattie laughs again. 

“Yes, except maybe that. The point _is,_ you may not be the brightest girl, but you’re certainly _not_ fragile. In the future, however, you may want to bring an extra cane in case Will gets annoying again.” 

You can’t help it; you laugh. “Thank you. I can see why Carmilla loves you so much.” 

“Well, she’s the only member of the family I find tolerable, so.” 

You sit with Mattie in companionable silence as you listen to the sounds of Carmilla and her Mother screaming at each other downstairs.


	12. Chapter 12

“Ant-man is stupid,” Laura announced. 

“Yeah, that was my bad, babe,” Carmilla said as they walked out of the theatre, “Usually movies like that _look_ so cool that it can get away with making no sense.” 

“Next time I pick the movie.” 

“Deal.” Carmilla grabbed Laura’s hand. “Come on, Laur. I know a shortcut. We can cut through this alley, maybe even make out against the wall for a bit.” 

“Yeah, because I want to make out with you in a dirty alley–” 

“Is that a no then?” 

“Of course not!” 

Carmilla walked faster. Laura felt herself being pushed against the wall, gentle lips nipping softly at her neck. 

“Carm, I can’t tell if I have a hickey, you better not–” 

Something was wrong. Carmilla let go of Laura. 

“Carm, what’s–” 

“I want your money. Give me everything you’ve got on you right now!”

 _Okay,_ so that wasn’t Carmilla. “We’re being _mugged?”  
_

 _“_ Laura, _shhh.”_ Carmilla hissed. Laura heard her take a step forward. “Hey, don’t do anything crazy, okay? Here’s my wallet. Right here, okay?” 

_Thump_

_“_ Laura, give him your wallet.” 

Laura wasn’t about to argue. She tossed hers forward. 

“Look, guy, you don’t have to do anything crazy. My girlfriend is blind, she can’t even ID you. You have our wallets, just go–” 

And then Laura heard a sound, a mix between a crunch and a wet noise, a gasp, and the sound of running feet as someone else collapsed to the ground. 

“Carmilla!” Laura fell to her knees, groping wildly, until she felt something sticky and wet. 

“Blood. Oh my God, blood. Carm, can you speak? Please, say _something.”_

 _“_ Phone…” 

_“_ Oh my God, yes! Phone!” Laura grabbed her cellphone from her pocket. “Hello, I need an ambulance. I’m in an alley near the Regal Cinema on Center Street. My girlfriend just got stabbed, it was a mugger, I’m blind so I can’t give a description…” 

With an unholy strength, Laura tore the bottom of her shirt, using it to place pressure on where she _hoped_ the wound was until she heard the sound of ambulance sirens. 

* * *

 

Every time Laura heard a door open in the hospital waiting room, she stood, sitting again when she realized it wasn’t for her. 

Finally, the door opened. Laura stood. 

“…Miss Hollis?” 

“Oh my God, yes, is Carmilla okay? Please tell me she’s okay.” 

“She was touch and go for a bit, but I think we’re out of the woods.” 

Laura breathed a sigh of relief. “Can I see her?” 

“She’s been asking for you since she woke up.”

Laura put a hand on his arm, letting him lead her into the room. 

“I’ll leave you both alone for a few minutes,” he said, closing the door. 

“Hey, babe,” Carmilla said. 

Her voice was so weak, and small, and fragile…Laura couldn’t help it. She started to cry. 

“Laura, what?” The bed shifted as, Laura guessed, Carmilla sat up. “I’m fine. Not dead. I’ll make a full recovery and go back to being your broody girlfriend in a couple of days. What’s wrong?”

“I–I–I couldn’t _do_ anything.” Laura hiccuped, “He _hurt_ you and no matter how hard I try, no matter how many canes I use or how much I rely on my other senses or anything, that doesn’t change the fact that he _hurt_ you and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop him and…and you deserve better and…” 

Laura was stopped by the gentle feeling of a hand brushing across her cheek. 

“Laura, who called nine-one-one, huh? Who put pressure on the wound so I wouldn’t bleed out?” 

“I would have rather kept you from getting stabbed in the first place.” 

“And then get yourself killed instead? Laura, eyesight or not, I wouldn’t change a single thing about what happened. I love you, and I want you to be safe. I don’t want you to play hero and get yourself killed.” 

“It still makes me feel useless.” 

“You’re not. I promise.” A hand cupped Laura’s cheek. “For instance, you can hug me and make me feel better about this stab wound in my gut.” 

Laura threw herself on Carmilla, crying tears of relief. “Promise me I won’t ever lose you, Carm, okay?” 

“I promise, Cupcake. You’re stuck with me. Now kiss me.”

Laura was happy to oblige.


	13. Reading

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Could you please write Carmilla reading her favourite books to blind!Laura?

“What do you like to do for fun?” Laura asked Carmilla one night, laying with her on the floor of Carmilla’s apartment. 

“What?” 

“What do you do for fun? Besides music, I mean.” Laura turned on her side, reaching out, brushing a hand on Carmilla’s cheek. “I mean, you ask about me all the time, and it’s great, don’t get me wrong…but I feel like you’re trying so hard not to make me feel like I’m just ‘blind girl’ to you, that I don’t know who _you_ are.”

“Oh. Um…okay. Other than music?” 

“Yeah.” 

Laura waited.

“To be honest, the other stuff I do is all pretty visual, which is why I haven’t really shared it. I draw. I do a lot of reading–” 

“Hey, I love reading! I read in braille all the time.” Laura leaned her head on hand. “What do you like to read?”

“ A lot of philosophy.” Carmilla sounded embarrassed as she said, “I, uh, I’ve been reading a lot of this book called _Philosophy of Love._ It’s a collection of essays by different philosophers–” 

“Read it to me.” 

“What?” 

“If you like it so much, I want to read it, too. And it’s way too much trouble to go out and find a braille copy. Why not?” 

“…Alright.” 

Carmilla got up. Laura heard her rifling through her bookshelf and then felt a hand moving hair from her face. 

“Okay. Which should I start with?” 

“How about your favorite?” 

Carmilla hummed as she shuffled through pages. “When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one’s self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.”

“That sounds kind of sad.” 

“That’s Oscar Wilde. He’s one of my favorites. You don’t agree?” 

“Well, I don’t think love is about _lying._ I mean…take me, for instance. I’m not afraid to tell you when I need help. At first I was embarrassed, and I’m not anymore. That’s, like, the _opposite_ of deceiving, isn’t it? I’m being _more_ open.” 

Laura waited patiently for a moment. “Uh, Carm?” 

“I have a different one: ‘The hours I spend with you I look upon as sort of a perfumed garden, a dim twilight, and a fountain singing to it. You and you alone make me feel that I am alive. Other men it is said have seen angels, but I have seen thee and thou art enough.’” 

Carmilla gave Laura a kiss. “That one is George Edward Moore.” 

“Wow, we are so in love it is gross.” Laura said; she didn’t wait for an answer. She took Carmilla’s face in the palm of her hand and sought out her lips with Laura’s own.


	14. Chapter 14

Laura’s father was, of course, absolutely thrilled when the surgery was a success. 

“My daughter has glasses just like her old man!” He exclaimed, slapping Laura on the back. Laura smiled, adjusting the very thick coke bottle frames she used to see. 

“And you…thank you for helping me afford the surgery, _daughter in-law.”_ He spread out his arms. Carmilla laughed nervously. 

“Uh–thanks Mr. Hollis–” Mr. Hollis pulled her in for a bear hug. 

“Call me Charlie, or better yet, Dad if you feel up to it!”

“Er–thanks Charlie–” Carmilla choked out, “Even though I didn’t really get Laura’s eyesight back for _you_ specifically–”

“Daddy, let Carmilla go, you’re going to kill my fiance!” Laura giggled a little, “Oh my God, she’s my _fiance._ I still can’t believe that.” 

“Better believe it, babe.” Carmilla said, squirming out of Mr. Hollis’s grip and wrapping her arms around Laura’s waist. 

“Speaking of which, have either of you thought about the wedding?” Mr. Hollis asked. 

“Somewhere really colorful!” Laura exclaimed, “You know, ‘cause I didn’t think I would be able to actually _see_ my wedding, so I want to get the most out of it.” 

“But we definitely want music,” Carmilla added, kissing Laura’s cheek, “We don’t want to forget that part of her, right?” 

“Yeah.” Laura looked at Carmilla. “Oh my God, you should totally sing something at the reception! I love your music.” 

“Maybe,” Carmilla agreed. 

Mr. Hollis rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Laura, have you, uh…thought about the guest list?” 

“Nothing, except most of Carm’s family is _not_ invited.” 

“Aw, babe, you know me so well. Mattie is though, right?” 

“Well, _duh,_ is she going to be your maid of honor?” 

“I thought Danny, since she set us up.” 

“But I kind of wanted to pick Danny–” 

“ _Girls,”_ Mr. Hollis interrupted, amused. They stopped and looked at him. “Laura, as heart warming as it is seeing my little girl planning her wedding with her fiance, I…uh, well, I don’t quite know how to bring this up. But after I heard the surgery went well, I…I went looking, and I found this.” 

Mr. Hollis put a hand in the pocket of his blue jeans, pulling out a scrap of paper. He handed it to Laura. From Carmilla’s position behind Laura, she could read over her shoulder. The scrap read: 

_Tracy Summers  
_

There was a phone number underneath. 

“Uh…Laur, who is that?”

Laura looks like she’s seeing a ghost. “Dad, how did–” 

“It took a bit of digging. She went back to her maiden name after she left. But I’m fairly confident that it’s her.” 

Laura took a long, hard look at the paper. She put it in her pocket. “Dad, thanks. I’m going to go up to my room, the car ride here left me kind of exhausted, you know?” 

“Laura, seriously, what’s–” 

Laura broke out of Carmilla’s arms, walking down the hallway and up the stairs.   
Mr. Hollis looked at Carmilla. 

“Okay, Charlie, my fiance just ran out of the room. What the fuck just happened?” 

Mr. Hollis looked in the direction Laura ran away. “…That number belonged to Laura’s mother.” 

Carmilla’s eyes widened. Mr. Hollis looked at her. 

“She could probably use you right now. You know where her bedroom is.” 

Carmilla didn’t need to be told twice. 

* * *

 

Carmilla opened the door as quietly as she could. Mr. Hollis had never bothered to refurbish his daughter’s room; it was a waste of money when his daughter couldn’t see it. So Laura was laying on a faded old blanket with butterflies on it, staring up at a pastel pink ceiling. 

“…She left when I was really little,” Laura said. 

“Oh.” Carmilla sat down on the bed, next to Laura. “I never asked--I always assumed she died. My dad left when I was little, too.” 

“I never told you, but that always made me feel closer to you, you know? We were both abandoned. Only my Mom,” Laura gulped, “She had just graduated college, and she couldn’t handle having a blind daughter.”

Carmilla put a hand on her fiance’s back, rubbing in circles. 

“When I was little I thought if I could prove I could do everything other kids would do…I don’t know, maybe she would notice and come back, you know? So I tried. It never worked. She made me feel so _worthless.”  
_

Laura wiped tears from her eyes, and then looked at her hand. “…You know, it’s funny. I couldn’t cry before. Not with, like, tears anyway. I think this is the first time I’ve _really_ cried in my life.” Laura smiled. Carmilla chuckled and pulled her in closer. 

“You know what’s amazing? You are reliving your parental issues, and you can still be fascinated by _tears._ It’s adorable.” 

“You must think I’m so silly. Being so affected by a woman I can’t even remember. I don’t know what she looks like, or even the sound of her voice…she must look a little bit like me, but that’s just a guess.”

“Well, you can always find out,” Carmilla said, looking pointedly at the scrap of paper in Laura’s hands. 

“Do you think I should?” 

“I think you should do whatever you feel like doing, Laura. If you feel like you can forgive your mother, and you want her at our wedding…I can’t stop you. I honestly don’t care either way.” 

Laura looked at the paper again. She would probably want to talk to her. ‘Hey Mom, I’m twenty-five and I can see, want to come to my wedding?’ 

“Carm, give me your phone.” 

She handed Laura the phone. Laura dialed the number. 

“…Hello, Tracy Summers, may I ask who’s calling?”

Laura took a breath. Looked at Carmilla. Hung up. 

“Thanks, Carm.” 

“What…?” 

“You love me. Dad loves me. She might have if she got to meet me now.” Laura handed the phone back, “But if she can’t love me when I’m blind, she doesn’t deserve to love me when I can see. Come on, we have a wedding to plan.” 

Carmilla got up and followed Laura out. “Babe, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay. I got to hear her voice, at least.” Laura turned around and took Carmilla’s hand. “She sounded kind of like me.” 

“Yeah, well,” Carmilla pulled Laura closer, “You’re not your mother. And I’m not my mother. That doesn’t mean anything.” 

“That’s right. Because I’m never going to leave you.” Laura answered, hugging Carmilla close. “Now, let me step back, I can’t see you when we’re hugging.”


	15. Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post!Surgery--Carmilla shows Laura the stars for the first time.

Carmilla took a day off from work after Laura’s surgery and pointed everything to her, reveling in how thrilled Laura looked after putting a vision to each place or thing she had only recognized before by touch or sound or smell. 

“Okay, so these are trees?” Laura asked, lightly running a hand along the bark. 

“Yeah. These are trees–” 

“Ooh!” Laura bit her thumb. “Oh, hey, _this_ is what a splinter looks like!” Laura said, grinning. Carmilla couldn’t help put a palm to her face. 

“As if you couldn’t get sweeter…seriously, is it in your genetic makeup to be unhappy, Hollis?” 

“What is there to be unhappy about? I’m _engaged,_ and I can look at this gigantic diamond ring you got me.” Laura said, wiggling her fingers. 

Carmilla rubbed the back of her neck. Luckily, Laura hadn’t started comparing the size of her ring yet…

“Hey Carm, you know what would be fun?” 

“What?” 

“You show me your absolute _favorite_ sight in the world–and _don’t_ tell me to stand in front of a mirror,” Laura added when Carmilla started to speak, “I’m being _serious.”  
_

Carmilla’s favorite sight in the world…and this would be the first official ‘date’ she’d be taking Laura on, with Laura’s eyesight back _and_ as her fiance. 

This required romancing the shit out of her. 

“…Okay. Meet me at the top of your apartment at eight o’clock tonight.” 

“What are you planning?” 

“I got to keep my air of mystery, don’t I?” Carmilla asked teasingly. 

“Carm, we’re getting married. If anything you should get used to not having any secrets _ever.”  
_

“In that case, consider this my last hurrah.” Carmilla answered. 

Laura rolled her eyes. “This better be good, Karnstein.” 

“Please. I’m always good.” 

Laura opened her mouth, then closed it, smiling and shaking her head. “I’ll see you, Carm.”

Carmilla cracked her knuckles. 

* * *

It was literally five minutes before Laura was supposed to show up that it started to rain. 

“Shit, shit, shit, _shit,_ no!” Carmilla groaned, shaking her fist at the sky. “Of all the fucking nights–” 

“Hey, Carm, why are we up here?” Laura pulled out her umbrella. “Oh my God, did you grab champagne? And a blanket? That’s so cute!” 

Carmilla shrugged, resting her hands on her knees. “Yeah, if the weather didn’t ruin _everything.”  
_

“Carmilla, it’s okay.” Laura answered, “We can drink inside–” 

“That’s not why I’m disappointed.” Carmilla looked up at the sky. “I was going to show you the stars. I love astronomy. I was looking forward to sharing that with you, that’s all.”

Laura smiled, sitting down next to Carmilla. “You know what’s great about getting to see you? Getting to see what you look like when you sound all pouty.” She gave Carmilla a kiss on the cheek. “It’s so cute.”

“I wanted this to be perfect for you. I’ve earned the right to brood a little.” 

Laura frowned, sitting quietly, petting Carmilla’s hair. “…Tell me about them, then.” 

“What?” 

“The stars. The constellations. Tell me about them. Start with your favorite. Please?”

The umbrella was keeping them dry, and Laura took off her glasses to wipe them on her shirt as Carmilla considered the question. 

“My favorite is Orion. There are a few legends. The most common is that he was a hunter, a giant. He lived alone on an island and hunted. One night the maiden goddess of the moon, Artemis, saw him as she was flying her chariot through the night sky. It was love at first sight. For days she would jump off her chariot to be with him, only to leave by morning.” 

“So she made a constellation for him? Aw, that’s–” 

“Actually, Zeus disapproved so he sent a giant scorpion monster to sting Orion to death after battling for hours. So Artemis made him a constellation to deal with her grief.”

Laura’s eyes widened. “Well, that’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. Why is that one your favorite?” 

“Maybe I just like tragic love stories.” 

“You better not like them too much,” Laura answered teasingly, “I want our wedding scorpion free.” 

Carmilla smiled at Laura. “For you? I’ll make our wedding anything you want.” 

“That is so sweet.” Laura kissed her. “…And hey, the rain stopped.” 

“Hey, you’re–” Carmilla’s eyes widened. “Laura,” she shook her shoulder, “Laura, look up, hurry, there’s a break in the clouds!” 

Laura looked up. As soon as she did, her eyes widened. “Oh my God, that’s _beautiful.”  
_

“And you’re only seeing a small part. On a clear night there’s _millions._ They’re infinite. And one of the only things in the universe that’s constant. Even as the world ends, we’ll still be able to look up and see the stars.”

Laura nodded. “Can you pour the champagne glass for me?”

“Why?” 

“I don’t want to look away before the clouds cover the entire sky again.” 

Carmilla didn’t want to look away from Laura, but she complied with her request, putting the champagne in Laura’s hand. 

“To us?” Carmilla asked, raising her glass. 

“Sure,” Laura answered, “And also…to Orion. And Artemis.” 

Carmilla smiled. “Orion and Artemis, then.” She wrapped an arm around Laura as she kept staring at the sky.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Post-surgery Laura realizes feeling how to do a ponytail, as she did when she couldn't see, and fixing all the bumps in her ponytail now that she can see, are two different things. Carm is enlisted and is surprisingly good at hair?

“Ready to go out to pick out the wedding cake, Laura?” Carmilla asked, calling to Laura from the kitchen of their apartment. 

“Yeah! Just a second.” 

Carmilla waited. And waited. But the second turned into five minutes. 

“Okay, Laura, I’m coming in there.” 

“No! I’m a big girl Carm, I can do this–” 

Carmilla opened the bathroom door and saw Laura, in front of the mirror, looking on the verge of tears while holding her hair back. 

“…Laura, babe, what’s wrong?” 

“Nothing.” 

“You look like you’re about to cry. That’s not nothing.” 

“Well, then it’s stupid, and you’ll think so when I tell you.”

Carmilla rolled her eyes. “Because this makes me think you’re such a genius?” 

Laura turned around to look at her. “Hey, I’m mad at you, too.” Carmilla put a hand to her heart. 

“ _Me?_ Why me? What did I do?” 

“I’m _trying_ to do a ponytail, but every time I do–see?” Laura did it again. There were bumps all over her head. “I can’t make it smooth!” 

“And this involves me, because…?” 

“Before my surgery I put my hair in a ponytail _all the time._ I must have looked ridiculous. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Carmilla looked like she was stifling a laugh. “Laura, I didn’t tell you because you would get mad if I so much as opened a door without asking you first. You would have been all,” Carmilla mimicked Laura’s voice, “’I’m a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need any help!’ Don’t act like I can’t do stuff, Carm!’” She stopped. “And _then_ you would have kept trying to do the ponytail right, but you wouldn’t have been able to since you’re blind–” 

“Okay, _okay,_ I get it,” Laura answered, looking back in the mirror. She ran a hand over the top of her head, frowning when the bumps sprang back up. “But I still feel kind of ridiculous. I thought I was _so great_ at doing my own hair.” 

Carmilla sighed. “Come here, Laura.” 

“What?” 

“I think this constitutes as a situation where I’m allowed to help,” Carmilla walked forward and reached her hands out, gently tugging the hair tie out of Laura’s hair. Her fingers gently massaged through Laura’s scalp. 

“That actually feels really nice…” Laura mumbled, eyes half closed. 

“Are you falling asleep on me, Cupcake?” 

“I’ve been running all over the place planning this wedding Carm–” 

“Ah- _hem.”_

“With _you,_ of course,” Laura added, “But, you know, I’m just so _tired.”  
_

“Hey, I understand. But look on the bright side, in a few months all of these decisions we need to make, and stupid shopping, and wedding planners we talk to…it’s all going to make this wedding the best day of your life.”

She spoke softly in Laura’s ear, pulling her hair back with her hands. 

“What about the best day of your life?” Laura asked. 

“Honestly? I don’t need any of this stuff. We could get married tomorrow in Vegas by an Elvis impersonator. I’d be thrilled.” 

“…Actually, that sounds kind of fun. Can we get an Elvis to do it?” 

Carmilla chuckled. “Well, we’ll see,” she twisted the hair tie around once, twice. “Done.” 

“Wow, that actually looks _really_ good,” Laura said, looking in the mirror, “I didn’t realize…I mean, you always wear your hair down.”

“I am a woman of many talents, babe. Now come on,” Carmilla gestured with her head, “We got a wedding cake to pick out.” 

“Aw. All of that talk about being tired made me want to stay in bed with you all day.”

Carmilla’s eyebrows shot up. “God, as _tempting_ as that is, it took me forever to get an appointment.” 

“But _bed.”  
_

“Laura, listen to yourself. Chocolate. Mousse. Cake.” 

Laura licked her lips. “Okay, never mind,” she grabbed Carmilla’s wrist and pulled her out, “Let’s go!”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Carmilla and Laura officially becoming girlfriends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, but it's been awhile, so here's something!

Carmilla nodded. Laura had asked if they could meet in the library–she had been moaning about midterms all week, and it was either that or not see her at all. They had only gone out a handful of times, and Carmilla didn’t want to go that long so early in–well, whatever they were at this point. Nothing had been made official yet. 

She’d looked at the braille textbooks and audiobooks, and without even thinking, she had asked, “How do you write papers? Do you use a voice program or something?” 

Laura looked at Carmilla; she had asked the question in earnest, but Carmilla still kind of wanted to slap herself for it. 

“Sometimes. Not in the library though, since you need to be quiet. Plus I can’t see if the computer is putting down the right words, you know? But usually I can use a keyboard with braille keys instead.” 

Carmilla nodded, leaning in and kissing Laura softly on the lips. 

“…What was that for?” Laura asked with a smile. 

“There need to be a reason, cutie?”

Laura paused, for a brief moment, before she continued. “Want to see what I do when I write notes for school?” 

She didn’t expect a whole lesson, but Carmilla said, “Sure.” 

Laura went into her backpack, pulling something out. “So, it’s called a slate and stylus,” Laura explained, sitting with Carmilla in the library, “It’s the blind equivalent of using a pen and paper.” 

It was a little rectangular piece of plastic. Laura took a piece of heavy looking paper, opening the back of the slate, putting the paper inside and closing it again. “I take this stylus, and I punch it through the little holes to make braille.” 

Carmilla nodded. “Interesting?” 

“Want me to write you a message?” Laura asked, looking in her direction and smiling. 

“Sure. Show me how it works.” 

Laura’s tongue poked out slightly as she got to work. It took about a minute, and when she was done Laura took the paper out and passed it to Carmilla. “There you go,” Laura said, grinning. 

“What’s it say?” Carmilla asked, holding it up. Laura shook her head. 

“Oh, I’m not telling you _that.”  
_

“Cutie, I can’t read braille.”

“If you want to know, you’ll have to learn to read braille.” Laura answered, “You can probably find a book on it. Look it up.” Laura leaned in and kissed Carmilla quickly, looking back at her computer. “I _really_ need to concentrate, Carm, I’m sorry. It was really sweet of you to come, though.”

Carmilla’s jaw set in determination. “Alright. I’ll call you later.”  

She walked away from Laura, then immediately headed to the nearest librarian. 

“Excuse me, Miss? I need to know where I can find books on reading braille…” 

* * *

So, braille was confusing as shit. 

Carmilla spent _hours_ reading that damn book. But she was determined. The way Laura looked when she was telling Carmilla she wouldn’t translate the message…the curiosity was killing her. She _needed_ to figure out this message. 

She used her computer, too, but it was still slow and tedious. She couldn’t feed the paper into a braille translator, after all. 

Carmilla learned french and german with ease, but _this?_ After about forty five minutes of copying down each letter, she finally got it. 

“And…question mark…SUCCESS!” Carmilla held it up. “‘Carmilla..” she trailed up. 

Did she translate it wrong? 

No, she didn’t. 

Her mouth opened slightly. “ _Holy shit.”  
_

She called Laura on her cellphone. 

“Laura, what the Hell?” 

“…Um, what?” 

“I translated your little message,” Carmilla held the paper up, “’Carmilla, will you be my girlfriend?’”

“ _Oh,_ is that what it said?” 

“I am _pissed_ right now, you have no idea.” 

“Carmilla, I am so sorry. So, so sorry, I know it might have been too soon–” 

Carmilla’s brow furrowed. “What? _No._ Of course I’ll say yes. You’re great and I’d love to be your girlfriend.”

There was a pause. “Can you give me a sec?” 

The phone sounded muffled, but Carmilla could distinctly hear the sound of excited squealing. 

“…Well, Carm, that’s great. Why are you mad?” 

“I’m _mad_ because you made me find out at home, alone. Did it not occur to you that I’d like to be, I don’t know, _around you_ for this?” 

“I…to be honest, I did it that way because I didn’t want to be there if the initial reaction wasn’t good,” Laura admitted. 

“I thought I was making it pretty obvious I’m into you, cupcake. Have I not told you I think you’re fantastic, smart, gorgeous, and kiss you every chance I get?” 

“Well, you _have,_ but I guess I’m still kind of in shock. You’re way out of my league.” 

“How can you tell if you don’t know what I look like?” Carmilla asked. 

“Have you _heard_ yourself talk?” 

Carmilla nodded. “Okay. Fair point.” 

“I’m sorry. But, to be clear…girlfriend, right?” 

“Yes. Honestly, I would have said yes the first night we met.” 

“You want to meet me at the library again, then–” 

Carmilla already grabbed her keys and was out the door before Laura was finished.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This drabble was based off this prompt: Please please do Laura confessing "Laura hears from other people how beautiful Carmilla is all the time, and sometimes Laura wonders if one day Carm will get tired of being with someone who can’t see that…"

“Okay, Carmilla, you’re meeting my friends today so…so please just…” 

“Just _what?”  
_

“Do not make them wonder why I’m dating you.” 

Carmilla laid a kiss to Laura’s temple. “Laura, I will be fine. Look, I’m even setting the table for you for brunch. There’s no way they’re going to dislike me after I feed them pancakes.” 

Laura relaxed slightly, leaning into Carmilla’s embrace. “Okay.”

It’s not like Laura was _really_ worried. But, a new girlfriend–really, the first girl Laura dated for more than a few weeks–meeting her friends? It was important. 

“They’re here!” Laura squeaked when the doorbell rang. Laura grabbed the doorknob, unlocking it and opening the door. 

“Hey, Laura!” 

“Good morning, dear.” 

“What’s up, frosh?”

“Carmilla, my friends,” Laura held out an arm, “Kirsch, Perry, and LaFontaine.”

Laura felt Carmilla’s hand on her shoulder. “Hello, Laura’s friends. I’m Carmilla.” 

They went through the customary greetings and shaking of hands, before Laura invited them all to go to the kitchen. 

“Wait a sec, guys, I got to finish setting the table.” 

“Carm, you don’t–” 

“Have to? No, but I’m girlfriend of the year, remember?” 

Laura heard Carmilla walk away and she looked in the direction of her friends. “So? What do you guys think?” 

“Dude, your girlfriend’s _hot.”  
_

“Kirsch!” Perry exclaimed. 

“What? She _is.”  
_

“You don’t just say it like that, though. Right, LaFontaine?” 

“Laura, did you know your girlfriend is practically a supermodel?” LaFontaine asked. Laura blushed. 

“Um–I mean, I knew she was _pretty,_ Danny said she was, but I didn’t know she was _that_ attractive–” 

“L-Dog, Carmilla looks like the love child of a Victoria’s Secret model and a Playboy Playmate–” 

“I’m sorry, what are we all talking about?”

“Carmilla!” Laura squeaked, turning to look in the direction of her voice. 

“Uh…hey, babe, I got the table set and everything, you ready to eat?” 

“Yep! We’re all ready. Come on, guys, Carmilla made us pancakes. _Delicious_ pancakes, which we can eat instead of speaking to each other. Come on.” 

Laura pushed past Carmilla and whoever else was in front of her, sitting at the table in the kitchen. She heard a chair scrape next to her. 

“Seriously, she cooks too?” Kirsch said, “Seriously, L-Dog, you gotta’ marry this one!” 

“If by ‘cook’, you mean put some eggos in the toaster oven,” Carmilla answered, sitting across from Laura, “Then yes, I am a fantastic cook.” 

“I don’t care as long as we got syrup,” LaF answered. 

Carmilla reached a hand across the table, taking Laura’s. Did Laura look as uncomfortable as she felt? 

_Why are you uncomfortable? They like your girlfriend. They also think your girlfriend is really hot. Nothing wrong with that…so what, you’ll never be able to tell Carmilla how pretty she is. Big deal–_

_“_ Laura?” 

“What?” 

“Carmilla just asked you like, five times if you wanted syrup on your pancakes, dear.” 

“Oh. Thanks Perry. And yeah, Carm, I’d love some syrup.”

Laura stuck her fork into her pancake, taking a bite. She made the minimum amount of small talk required to not have anyone ask if she was alright, and after what seemed like _hours,_ Perry, LaF, and Kirsch finally said their goodbyes. 

She heard Carmilla close the door before a pair of hands wrapped around her waist. “You seem a little quiet today. And you’re _never_ quiet.” 

“I’m fine.”

Cool lips brushed against Laura’s, and for a moment they kissed before she couldn’t keep it to herself anymore. 

“…Carm?” 

“Mmm-hmm?” 

“Does it bother you that I’ll never know what you look like?”

Laura cursed herself mentally when she felt the hands leave her waist. “What made you bring _that_ up?” 

“Nothing. It was stupid.” 

“I agree. But you obviously are bothered by it, so…” 

“Look, I _know_ I can’t do anything about it, but…it’s just, all Kirsch and LaF and Perry could talk about was how _gorgeous_ you are, and how you’re a supermodel and the love child of a Victoria’s Secret model and a Playmate–” 

“Seriously?”

“You don’t have to sound so proud of it!” 

“Well, it’s not exactly an _insult…”_

“I just–I feel like you deserve _better._ Someone who can see that. Doesn’t it bother you that I can’t?” 

Laura felt her hands wrap around her again. “Laura, what did you say about my voice?” 

“Um…well…”

“Come on.” 

“That if I could bottle it and sell it for cash, I would.” 

“Exactly. Believe me, I feel appreciated by you. Who says I want yet another girl who only appreciates me for my looks? However incredible they are–” 

“Okay, don’t get crazy now.” 

Carmilla laughed, pulling Laura in closer.


	19. An alternate proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prompt was: for the blind!Laura AU, can you write the proposal being Laura who do it with the help of Carm's friends. 
> 
> As such, Laura has not had surgery in this alternate proposal.

“Hey, Carm, guess what day it is?” 

“Erm…my day off? As in, the day I get to _sleep in?”_

Carmilla rolled over in bed, pulling her pillow over her head. 

“Carmilla, come _on!_ It happens to be our three year anniversary. You know, of our first date?”

Laura grabbed a fistful of blankets, yanking them. 

“HEY! Those were _under_ me!” 

“I planned the whole day for us, Carm, come on!” Laura said. She reached her hands out, flailing until she found Carmilla’s face. “Hey, you don’t get a good morning kiss if you don’t get up.” 

“You’re killin’ me, Hollis.” Carmilla got up, capturing Laura’s lips in one smooth motion. “How about we continue this good morning kiss in the shower?”

“Already took one.” Laura answered, walking away. 

“Christ, you’re _killin’_ me, Hollis.” Carmilla groaned, following Laura out of the room. “Whatever you planned, it better be good.”  

“Oh, don’t worry, it will. First, we go out for breakfast.” 

“Seriously?” 

“Yep! If you’ll follow me outside, Miss Karnstein,” Laura said brightly, grabbing her cane next to the door and walking out without skipping a beat. Carmilla smirked and followed her. 

“Is that someone _in the car already?”  
_

The window rolled down and Danny stuck her head out. “Why, yes, it is.” 

“Why is Danny here?” 

“So we can cuddle in the back seat.” Laura answered, “Get in the car.” 

Carmilla raised an eyebrow–not that Laura would notice–and slipped into the car with Laura. 

“Where are we going?” 

“You’ll see.” Laura said noncommittally. 

If there was one thing Carmilla learned, after three years, it was that when Laura got an idea in her head, it was best to just get it over with. Carmilla put an arm around her girlfriend, laying a kiss to her temple before leaning back in her seat. 

“Carm?” 

“Yeah, Laura?” 

“You love me, right?” 

Carmilla looked at her. “Laura, of _course_ I love you. More than anything. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” 

Laura smiled. “Good.” 

“Why…?” 

But either Laura wasn’t paying attention or pretending not to, because she was looking out the window. 

Fine. 

“Hey, lovebirds, we’re here.” Danny said, “The mall.” 

“The _mall?”  
_

 _“_ We went here on our second date,” Laura said, “You know how we always stop in Yankee Candle and stuff, right?” 

“Yeah.” Carmilla got out, linking arms with Laura as they walked into the mall. 

“Well, I thought we could do that again.” 

Carmilla raised an eyebrow, but nevertheless followed her. “If you want, Laura…”

Laura bit her lip, nervous. “Close your eyes.” 

“Why…?” 

“Just _trust_ me, Carmilla.” 

Carmilla smiled. “Alright.”

Laura waved a hand in front of Carmilla’s eyes. “I’m going to trust you, okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

“Okay.” Laura’s hand skimmed one of the shelves, grabbing a candle and holding it under Carmilla’s nose. “Can you guess what this one smells like?” 

“Uh…hmm…pine?”

“Nope.” 

“Oak?” 

“Wrong again.” 

“Then I give up.” 

Laura grinned. “Open your eyes, Carm.” 

Carmilla did, and clutched a hand to her chest in shock. “ _Holy shit.”  
_

There was a ring lying on top of the candle; Laura breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank _God._ I was afraid I grabbed the wrong one. Danny told me she put it there but I didn’t want her to come with me…” 

Carmilla was silent. Laura kept babbling. 

“The candle is called ‘Marry Me’. Clever, huh? You know how we always made fun of these candle scents that are really vague? I don’t know, I thought it’d be cute if I hid the ring in one of them…I just, I love you so much Carm, and I wanted Danny to help with the proposal, since she set us up on our first date and…um…what do you say–” 

Laura had the breath knocked out of her from the force of Carmilla’s hug. “Of _course_ I’ll marry you, Cupcake. I love you so much…oh my God, I can’t believe you proposed to me. I can’t believe I’m marrying you.” 

Danny poked her head into the store. “Laura, did–it did!” Danny walked in. “So I take it the proposal was a success?” 

“Shut up, Red, and give me a hug.” Carmilla pulled Danny in, too. “I may not say this a lot, Xena…but thanks. For everything. Including helping Laura do this.” 

“Don’t mention it, Carm. It’s like I said to Laura–if anyone could bring light into your dark, dark soul, it’d be her.” 

Laura could only lay a kiss to Carmilla’s cheek as tears of relief welled up in the corners of her eyes.


	20. Mistletoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A drabble I wrote for Christmas and forgot to post here!

“I absolutely _love_ Christmas!” Laura gushed, walking hand in hand with Carmilla through the street. Carmilla smiled at her. 

“Babe, are you _sure_ you don’t want a hat or earmuffs or something?” 

She shook her head. “I don’t like covering my ears. If I can’t see I’m not doing anything that makes it harder to hear, too.” 

Carmilla wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in so she could tuck her head under her chin. “Let me help, then,” she murmured into Laura’s hair. 

Laura only rolled her eyes and pushed Carmilla away from her, taking her hand again. Suddenly Carmilla stopped. 

“Carm, what–” 

“The awning we’re under has mistletoe. You know what that means, right?” 

Laura smiled, facing Carmilla and giving her a short, soft kiss. 

“Oh, come on Laura, that wasn’t a kiss.” 

“I want to go home and bake the Christmas cookies Carm, come on.”

“…Fine.” 

They were walking for another five minutes until Carmilla stopped again. 

“Mistletoe.” 

Another time when they stopped at the grocery store to get ingredients for the cookies. 

“Come on, Laura, you look like you don’t _want_ to kiss me under the mistletoe. I thought you _loved_ Christmas.” 

“Yeah, and you don’t care.” 

“I like certain traditions,” Carmilla answered, and Laura could _feel_ her smirk when Carmilla leaned in. 

It wasn’t until they got back to their apartment, and Carmilla backed Laura against the door (”Well, Laura, what do you know…”) that it clicked in her head. 

“You liar!” 

“Huh?” 

“You’ve totally been lying about seeing all of this mistletoe everywhere, haven’t you?” 

“…I may have stretched the truth a little.”

“Carm!” 

“Well, if you don’t want to–” Carmilla pulled away slowly–Laura grabbed her. 

“Whoa, whoa, I never said _that.”  
_

She kissed Carmilla, and the two kept up a bruising pace until Laura finally broke for air to say, “We should probably start on those cookies, huh?” 

“Probably,” Carmilla said begrudgingly, pulling away. 

Laura grinned, hearing Carmilla walking off. She was about to follow when, out of curiosity, she stood on tip toe and held up her hand. 

It hit something. Mistletoe, probably. 

Laura’s smile grew wider and she followed Carmilla into the kitchen.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request for a friend. Laura tries to do something special for Carmilla's birthday. (pre-surgery)

Carmilla had never been one to pay that much attention to her birthdays. She would call sick from work, maybe go out for a drink or two, but it was otherwise another day on the calendar. 

 

Such an attitude was not going to sit well with Laura Hollis, who even bought a cake for labor day. 

 

“Come on, Carm, you only turn twenty-four once!” Laura had insisted over the phone. Carmilla flopped on her couch, draping one arm across its back. 

 

“Yeah. And I only turned twenty-three once. In fact, I’ve turned every number before this one time. It’s not like I can repeat any years.” 

 

“Not true. What if you get, like, bitten by a vampire tomorrow? Then you’ll keep turning twenty-four every year for the rest of your life!” 

 

Carmilla laughed. “Really? You’d  _ want  _ me to turn into a vampire, wouldn’t you Cupcake?” 

 

“Who says?” 

 

“I saw that audio book of  _ Twilight  _ last time I slept over, Laura. Don’t even try to deny it.” 

 

“That was  _ purely  _ curiosity and nothing else!” Laura exclaimed. Carmilla laughed again, shifting so she could put a hand behind her head and look up at the ceiling. 

 

“Suuuuuuure, Laura.” 

 

Laura huffed on the other side of the phone, and Carmilla rolled her eyes. 

 

“ _ Fine,  _ Cupcake. You can wine and dine me for my birthday. It will be very difficult to have my girlfriend spoil me, but I will  _ struggle  _ if it makes you happy.” 

 

“Yay! You will not regret this, Carmilla. I already have my gift ready for you. It is going to be perfect. You will  _ definitely  _ enjoy it.” 

 

Carmilla caught the suggestiveness of Laura’s tone.  _ That  _ made her sit up. “Whoa, not even a few details, hmm?” 

 

“Nope! You have to wait!” 

 

Carmilla could practically hear Laura’s teasing little smirk She huffed. “Well it’s not fair to do that to the birthday girl.” 

 

“Not until tomorrow, remember? Goodnight,” Laura’s voice softened, “I love you. And please actually get to bed before three AM?” 

 

“Love you too, babe. And I’ll try.” 

 

They both hung up. Carmilla put the phone on the side table and, too lazy to go to her bed, decided to sleep on the couch. She tried to keep her promise to Laura, but she couldn’t--try as she might, she couldn’t help replaying their conversation over and over again in her head, grinning in the dark until she finally fell asleep. 

* * *

 

“So did you really like it?”

 

“Laura, I am  _ trying  _ to make out with you in an elevator, if you couldn’t tell.” 

 

Laura smiled sheepishly at her, Carmilla’s arms on either side of her head, pinning her to the wall. “I’m sorry! I just really wanted this to be fun for you. This is the first birthday we’ve celebrated as a couple, you know?” 

 

“It was fun, Cupcake. Seriously.” 

 

Carmilla leaned in to kiss her again. She wasn’t lying. Laura took her to some free concert in the park thing. The band was this heavy metal indie shit that screamed more than they sang, but it was loud with alcohol and food and making out on a picnic blanket while Carmilla told Laura of  _ course  _ no one could see them. 

 

Laura let Carmilla have a few blissful moments before she heard the elevator doors open, and she pushed Carmilla away lightly. 

 

“Smooching later, I  _ promise, _ ” Laura said, walking out of the elevator with a very, well, frustrated Carmilla in tow, “I have one more thing I want to give you.” 

  
“Really? And what is this big surprise?” 

 

“I can give you a hint,” Laura said, flipping through her keys, feeling the edges for the one that would open the door to her apartment, “it involves my bedroom.” 

 

“Mmmm. I love it already.” Carmilla grinned, settling her hands firmly on Laura’s hips as she unlocked the door. Laura blushed. 

 

“Just--just wait on my bed.” 

 

“Wait? You’re going to make me wait on my birthday?” 

 

Laura walked inside, Carmilla following after. She pushed Carmilla in the direction of the bedroom. “I bought something special,” Laura explained, “it’ll be worth it once you see it.” 

 

“What are you plann--” 

 

“Just trust me!” 

 

Carmilla shook her head, smiling, before sitting on the bed, lightly crossing her legs. Laura closed the door and Carmilla smirked, waiting with eager anticipation. Casually, she took off her jacket, getting ready to strip off her tank top as soon as Laura walked in. Whatever Laura was going to have on would be great, but that didn’t change the fact that Carmilla wanted both their clothes off as soon as possible--

 

“Okay Carm, I’m ready!” 

 

“I’ve been ready, Laura, you’re killing me right now.” 

 

“Alright--TA-DA!” 

 

Laura threw open the door, hands on her hips, beaming with pride. 

 

Carmilla gaped. For five, ten, fifteen seconds. 

 

It was...hard to describe. Actually, no. It was a bow. A fucking  _ bow.  _ Literally just a bow across her torso, the ribbon going over one of her shoulders like a strap and just barely covering what her underwear could have. 

 

She fought back a laugh. But then a snort escaped her. And then Carmilla burst out laughing. 

 

“Oh my fucking  _ God--HAHAHAHA!”  _

 

Oh, it was hot. Incredibly hot--but that had nothing to do with the ridiculous lingerie and everything to do with Laura being basically naked. 

 

Laura heard a  _ thump  _ when Carmilla laughed so hard she fell off the bed. 

 

“Carmilla! Are you okay--wait. You’re  _ laughing?”  _

 

“I’m-- _ ha _ \--fine! I’m--oh my God--sorry it’s just--how did you pick  _ that?”  _

 

She dragged herself back onto the bed as Laura turned another shade redder. “You...you think it looks that ridiculous?” 

 

“It’s a bow. Seriously, how did you find that?” 

 

“I--kind of--I got Perry to help me.” 

 

Carmilla burst out laughing again. “Babe.  _ Babe.  _ It is not your fault but--she does not exactly have the best fashion sense. And especially not with lingerie.” 

 

“Well Laf would have kept making jokes and I wasn’t going to ask  _ Danny!  _ I...I just wanted to do something special for you…” 

 

Carmilla frowned as Laura stepped backwards. “Laura, come on. Wait. Come back.” 

 

“But you’ll laugh…” 

 

“Honest to God I won’t.” 

 

Laura took a few hesitant steps in her direction; Carmilla reached out a hand, pulling Laura into her lap. Her arms went around Laura’s waist, chin going to rest on her shoulder. 

 

“You know if you wanted to be sexy, you didn’t need to do all of this,” Carmilla said softly, “lying in bed for me is pretty much always a crowd pleaser. I’m a simple woman.” 

 

“This was a disaster,” Laura mumbled, “I don’t even want to bother with the backup gift--” 

 

“Wait,” Carmilla’s hold tightened slightly, “you have  _ another  _ surprise? What other surprise…?”

  
  


Laura pouted. “Maybe I won’t show you. You laughed at me. Maybe you don’t deserve it--” 

 

“Aw, come  _ on,  _ Laura. I know you can’t see yourself, but it really was not my fault I started laughing. Trust me.” 

 

“Not helping.” 

 

“But Laura, it’s my  _ birthday,”  _ Carmilla whined, “you can’t deny me my gift on my birthday!”

 

Carmilla kissed Laura’s neck. “ _ Please?”  _

 

“...Only because you’re not going to stop whining,” Laura mumbled, “now let me go so I can change into normal clothes and grab what I’ll need.” 

 

Carmilla begrudgingly let Laura go; that lingerie was pretty bad, but she was liking all of the bare skin she got to press herself against. She sighed, leaning back while she waited for Laura to return. 

 

“Okay!” Laura called, “I’m coming back.” 

 

“Good, I was afraid you jumped out the window,” Carmilla answered with a smirk. Laura huffed and walked back in, changed into her owl sweater and jeans. With a…

 

“...Guitar?” 

 

“Yeah.” 

 

It was an old, beat up acoustic. Carmilla tilted her head. She had a nice, second hand stratocaster that she had just bought after months of saving. Laura knew that. 

 

“Um...I love it?” 

 

Laura shook her head. “It’s not for you. It’s...kind of mine?” 

 

“Yours?” 

 

Laura sat next to Carmilla on the bed. She shifted the guitar so it was sitting in her lap, and Carmilla slid over to give her more room. 

 

“Okay. So remember when you did that song for our anniversary? Months ago?” 

 

Carmilla nodded. Laura smiled. 

 

“Well. I’ve kind of been practicing this ever since so I could do one for you.” 

 

Carmilla’s jaw dropped slightly again. “You learned to play guitar? Blind?” 

 

Laura looked in her direction. “I mean. There are blind guitar players, Carm. It just takes like  _ way  _ more concentration. And memorizing notes by ear. I wouldn’t say I learned how to play, I mean--you know, I’m not exactly musically inclined--but I learned how to do this one song.” 

 

She smiled sheepishly. “So. Here you go?” 

 

Laura started strumming softly, biting her lip. After a few moments she opened her mouth and started to sing. 

 

_ “Please...don’t see-- _ crap!” Laura hit a sour note and cringed. “Carm, I am sorry, I’m still not that--” 

 

She was interrupted by Carmilla gently touching her on the shoulder. 

 

“First off,” Carmilla said, beaming, “fantastic song choice.” 

 

“You did Higher Place for me, and Begin Again  _ is  _ our favorite movie,” Laura answered, smiling softly down at the guitar. 

 

“Second,” Carmilla continued, turning Laura’s head toward her and pecking her on the lips, “I love you, and I love how much work you put into learning this--but maybe it would help if you focused on the notes and let me sing? I love this song. It’d be a gift to me anyway?” 

 

Laura paused, then nodded gratefully. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s try that.” 

 

Pausing to focus intently on the guitar sitting in her lap, Laura started playing again. Carmilla hummed, letting the notes wash over her, before opening her mouth. 

 

_ “Please...don’t see...just a girl caught up in dreams and fantasies. Please see me, reaching out for someone I can’t see.”  _

 

It was far from perfect. Laura still messed up the chords a few times, making them both erupt into laughter before quieting themselves down and continuing. 

 

_ “But don’t you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow. Yesterday I saw a lion kiss a deer. Turn the page, maybe we’ll find a brand new ending…”  _

 

Laura was beaming at Carmilla now, and she almost wanted to remind Laura to pay attention...but she was blind, so did where her head was facing even matter? Carmilla put a hand to her chest as she finished, a habit she had when she wasn’t holding her guitar that she’d been trying to break. 

 

_ “But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark…”  _

 

She trailed off, and Laura trailed off, and they both continued to look at each other. 

 

“...Happy birthday, Carm,” Laura said. 

 

Carmilla surged forward to kiss Laura, cupping her cheek in her hand. 

 

“See? This is your wheelhouse, Cupcake. Sexy gifts aren’t your thing. Your thing is incredibly sentimental, cheesy, thoughtful presents that aren’t significant to anyone but us.” 

 

Laura shrugged. “I mean, that’s nice, I guess?” 

 

Carmilla kissed her again. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

 

Laura smiled at her dreamily. 

 

“Laura, what are you looking at?” 

 

“Nothing,” Laura said, “like, I mean literally because...well, you know. But also because I’m just thinking about how my girlfriend is a super hot musician who is going to be famous one day.” 

 

Carmilla laughed. “Yeah. Now tell a record company that.” 

 

“It’ll happen,” Laura said firmly, and Carmilla leaned forward to kiss Laura on the forehead. 

 

“I love you. Thanks for the fantastic gift.” 

 

“Always, of course.” 

 

Then Carmilla grinned wickedly. 

 

“And you know, if you still want to take a stab at being sexy,” Carmilla purred, “I always preferred you completely unclothed. Any sort of lingerie is pretty unnecessary. For  _ future  _ reference.” 

 

Laura stared at Carmilla. Then, after setting the guitar down on the floor, she asked simply: 

 

“Can the future be now?” 

 

Carmilla ran a hand through her hair, licking her lips. She didn’t know Laura had it in her. 

 

“ _ God,  _ I love you,” Carmilla answered immediately, reaching forward to tug Laura’s sweater over her head. 

  
  



End file.
